


Future in the Past

by orphan_account



Category: Hey! Say! JUMP, Johnny's Entertainment, Johnny's Jr., Kis-My-Ft2 (Band), Sexy Zone
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-15
Updated: 2014-04-24
Packaged: 2017-12-11 20:34:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 18
Words: 52,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/802945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How Yamada Ryosuke, Nakajima Kento, Chinen Yuri, Lewis Jesse and Fujigaya Taisuke needed to travel 500 years into the past to realize the answers to the questions they had about the present.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Character Chart of Kitagawa 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is for the orientation of everyone who feels confused about who belongs to which clan or troop in the past time zone... Here a small overview! :)

**Higashi no Chu**

| 

**Nishi no Jo**

|   
---|---|---  
  
**Daimyo**

| 

Domoto Koichi

| 

Domoto Tsuyoshi

|   
  
**Shomyo**

| 

Takizawa Hideaki

| 

Imai Tsubasa

|   
  
**Daisho**

| 

Kamenashi Kazuya

| 

Nishikido Ryo

|   
  
**Troop 1**

| 

Ueda Tatsuya (Gocho)

Tanaka Koki

Sanada Yuma (Spy)

Nakamaru Yuichi

Kawai Fumito

| 

Akanishi Jin (Gocho)

Yamashita Tomohisa (Spy)

Ohkura Tadayoshi

Yasuda Shota

Maruyama Ryuhei

|   
  
**Troop 2**

| 

Uchi Hiroki (Gocho)

Kato Shigeaki

Ishigaki Daisuke

Koyama Keiichiro

Hashimoto Ryosuke

| 

Yokoyama Yu (Gocho)

Shibutani Subaru

Murakami Shingo

Tegoshi Yuya

Masuda Takahisa

|   
  
**Troop 3**

| 

Ikuta Toma (Gocho)

Hasegawa Jun

Kazama Shunsuke

Morimoto Shintaro

Tsukada Ryoichi

| 

Matsumoto Jun (Gocho)

Nozawa Yuki

Ninomiya Kazunari

Sakurai Sho

Ohno Satoshi

|   
  
**Troop 4**

| 

Kitayama Hiromitsu (Gocho)

Tamamori Yuta

Tanaka Juri

Kyomoto Taiga

Iwahashi Genki

(former members: 

Miyata Toshiya

Yokoo Wataru)

| 

_Fujigaya Taisuke_ (Gocho)

Senga Kento

Nikaido Takashi

Yasui Kentaro

Jinguji Yuta

|   
  
**Troop 5**

| 

_Yamada Ryosuke_ (Gocho)

Okamoto Keito

Inoo Kei

Takaki Yuya

Yabu Kota

| 

Nakayama Yuma (Gocho)

Nakajima Yuto

_Chinen Yuri_

Arioka Daiki

Yaotome Hikaru  
  
**Troop 6**

| 

_Nakajima Kento_ (Gocho)

Matsumura Hokuto

Goseki Koichi

Sato Shori

Marius Yo

(later: _Lewis Jesse_ )

| 

Kikuchi Fuma (Gocho)

_Lewis Jesse_ (called “Inoo”)

Kouchi Yugo

Matsushima Sou

Totsuka Shota

(later: Nakamura Reia)  
  
**Doctor**

| 

Taguchi Junnosuke

| 

Aiba Masaki  
  
**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I highlighted the 5 main characters in cursive writing. Hope this gives everyone a small overview :)


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I had once posted this chapter before, but I changed the storyline a little and now I'm going to continue it slightly altered. Sorry for the long wait. Hope you will like what I made out of it!
> 
> I'm starting with a chapter out of Ryosuke's POV, next one will be someone else's. This story has 5 POV's and pairings, and more Johnny's than you can count! I would be happy if you could give it a chance :)

Ryosuke’s POV

It was not like I did not like my job – I loved it. Really. To the point where I tended to forget myself over it sometimes, even. But I had to admit that, in times of band and solo activities clashing, it was able to become too much even for me.

When it had been announced that I would get a solo CD debut for my role in Kindaiichi Shounen no Jikenbo, I had been ecstatic. I had always been fantasizing about this, to be able to do my own thing on my own stage.

It did not mean, though, that I was not satisfied with my band anymore. My position as a member of Hey! Say! JUMP was unquestionable for me, and I had never planned to choose my own career over them. The whole thing was supposed to be a side project, like NYC. I was convinced that I could handle both.

But when my schedule was so full Kindaichi promotion, Single promotion and Johnnys’ World performances that I was barely able to do anything but sleep the moment I came home (if I came home at all), my nerve strings started to grow thinner.

Yuto noticed, when I snapped at him for snatching my water bottle backstage by accident. Kota noticed, when he had a text slip during one show, causing me to miss my line, too, and I yelled at him backstage for not being able to concentrate properly, too frustrated about my own mistake. They noticed, and decided to ignore it and wait until my mood was better again.

Keito did, apparently, not notice. It should have made me wonder why – usually Keito had a very good sense for self-preservation, knowing when to push and when to stop – but this time, he pushed it anyways, even though it had been obvious that he shouldn’t.

It started about something work related – Christmas was getting nearer, and every band participating in Johnny’s World had thought up a special something for our Christmas Eve Show. Every band, but us, because even though we had been wanting to get together to think it through for quite some time, I had never found the time in my busy schedule.

That day, Keito approached me for this matter again – I had been typing a hasty mail to my manager backstage, telling him that I might be coming late for our photo shoot that had been set in between the two performances of the day, when I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder.

“Ryosuke” Keito spoke up, and I barely nodded in acknowledgement, eyes still focused on the display of my cell phone. “Say, are you free Wednesday after the afternoon show? We thought we could all go for dinner and discuss-“

“I’m busy” I interrupted Keito shortly. “I’m appearing in some variety show.”

“Oh” Keito just said, and I sent the mail to my manager, hastily packing my phone. “Then when _do_ you have time?”

“I don’t know, Keito, okay?!” I groaned, grabbing my things. “I don’t know, but if I do, I’ll tell you, okay? But I really need to go now, I-“

“Ryosuke, this is important!” Keito said loudly. “Everyone has thought of something but us!”

“I know” I snapped, trying to gulp down the bad conscience. “I know, okay, but what can I do about it?! If it’s so important, do it without me, it will be fine!”

“We don’t want to do it without you!” Keito called strongly, tightening his grip on my shoulder. “You’re the freaking leader of our band!”

“And that means you need me for every little decision?!” I replied in annoyance. “Gosh, grow up and do something yourself!”

“So that’s how it’s going to be from now on?!” Keito demanded, his voice high pitched. His tone made me look up at his face, and I saw some emotion in his eyes, but I could not bring myself to draw any meaning out of it. “Yamada Ryosuke comes first, and Hey! Say! JUMP only second?!”

His words ticked me off, because he knew exactly that they were not true. Had I not always promised to never betray the band?!

“I have more important things to do to listen to your bullshit!” I yelled, glaring at him. “You know exactly how important the band is for me, and I’m doing everything I can for you guys, so the least you could do is try to help me out a little from your side!”

“We’re trying!” Keito called. “We’re trying to get everything off your back, but if you continue to ignore us like this, it’s going to be like you’re not even existing in the band! That was the way it was before Yamashita left NEWS, and I don’t want it to happen to us, too!”

“I’m NOT going to leave the band!” I screamed, feeling personally offended by his words. Because what the heck?! I had promised them right from the start that this was not what was going to happen. And now Keito made me seem like a liar?!

It hurt. It hurt a lot.

“Then pay some attention to us!” Keito demanded. “It feels like I haven’t seen you for ages, and when I do, you’re already turning to leave again!”

“I don’t have time for you and your whining!” I groaned. “I have to be in a photo shoot on the other side of Tokyo in 5 minutes, and-“

“Of course, a photo shoot” Keito groaned, turning his face away from me. “I can see how that is more important than your friends.”

I had to fight hard against the urge to punch him. Instead of saying anything more, I just groaned loudly and turned, snatching my bag and leaving, making sure to throw the door closed hard behind me.

The fight with Keito had thrown me. Usually, Keito was not the type who would pick a fight with you; we had always gotten along super well. Keito had never been anything but supportive, and he was one of the few persons that really made me feel like relaxing and forgetting all the stress when I saw him.

Hearing those words now from him was like a slap in the face.

It bothered me all throughout the photo shoot. When I came back for the evening performance, we pointedly ignored each other, not even throwing a look in the other’s direction.

When I came home from work, I tore a photo from us off my wall, throwing it into a corner of my room, and deleted his number from my home. I lay awake all night, not being able to sleep.

The next day, I walked around like a zombie. I still refused to even look at Keito, and hardly spoke to anyone else, either. Nobody tried, either – maybe I had the aura of killing everyone who dared to come close to me.

Only when two more days passed, I suddenly got a call from an unknown number. I had already been lying in bed, and my overworked mind thought immediately of work at the vibrating phone, so I had taken it.

“Hello?” I had asked.

At first, there was no response, and I had just wanted to ask again, when Keito spoke up with a choked voice.

“Yama-Chan?” he had asked tentatively. “This is Okamoto Keito…” My mind had still been zooming with thoughts of screaming at him or just hanging up or wondering if he was getting sick or if that really were tears in his voice when he continued, even more choked: “I’m sorry.”

I held my breath, all my anger suddenly flying out of the window. Because now, I was sure that he was crying. And it made everything inside of me cramp and want to scream for a whole new reason.

“I’m so sorry” he continued. “I really didn’t want to say something like this… I know that you are trying your best for us and that you would never betray us… I don’t know what came over me there. I’m sorry.”

“I – It’s okay” I murmured, slightly helpless. Even if I had spent the last few days raging against him because I had not thought it was okay. But right now, I just wanted him to stop crying, because I could not take it.

“No, it’s not, and you’re so busy at the moment, and all I do is make your life harder… And I dared talking about friendship. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay, Keito” I murmured, still at a loss of what to say. “Let’s just… forget the whole thing happened, okay?”

“Yes” Keito breathed, and I heard him gulp loudly even through the telephone line. “Thank you.”

I just clenched my fist around the phone, wondering what that feeling was.

The next day, Keito still avoided me – not as openly as before, because he smiled tentatively at me when our eyes met, or greeted me when I came in, but he did not move over to talk to me or anything.

It made me feel even more frustrated, for some reason.

As I had a short break when Keito, Yuto and some others revised the “Somewhere over the rainbow” performance of the musical, Kei sat down next to me, reaching a cup of steaming coffee out to me.

“Thank you” I smiled appreciatively at him, and Kei chuckled, before asking, almost offhandedly: “You made up with Keito?”

“Yes” I sighed, making a face. “Kind of. I don’t know. I don’t understand him.”

Kei smiled slightly, before murmuring: “Well, you’ve never been exactly good at figuring out other people. And Keito is more sensitive than you might think.”

I frowned, looking at him.

“What is that supposed to mean?” I demanded.

“Well, the fear that you might leave the band is not the only thing that has been worrying him recently” Kei shrugged. “He’s a worrywart. He worries about too many things.”

I blinked, staying silent for a moment, before I dead-pinned: “You know something that I don’t.”

“Yes” Kei said honestly. “But I’m not going to tell you. Figure it out yourself.”

I glared at him, and Kei only smiled teasingly before standing up again, leaving me to my own thoughts and my steaming coffee, that suddenly tasted like poison.

Kei’s words did not let go of me for the rest of the day. They were clinging to me like some kind of broken record, turning up again and again in my thoughts even when I tried to forget them.

It made me approach Keito, even through the awkward atmosphere. He was sitting in the corner of our dressing room, practicing a little on his guitar, and I just sat down across from him, waiting until he froze and looked up at me.

There were so many confusing and unreadable emotions in his eyes that it made my head feel like exploding. So all I said was: “I think I can make some time Monday night. Maybe we can discuss the Christmas Special then.”

Keito gulped, before smiling at me, if only a little smile. It made a weird warmth spread through my insides.

“That would be nice” was all he said.

We looked at each other, and I saw Keito bite his lip, before he murmured: “Ryosuke… I…”

I remembered Kei’s words, and wondered if, finally, he would reveal something about whatever it was that was bothering him to me. I waited, but the silence prolonged. I noticed Keito looking pale.

“Yes?” I nodded, trying to urge him on. “What is it?”

Keito gulped again, before smiling, a little tense, shaking his head.

“Nothing” he said. “Forget it.”

With that, he got up and crossed the room, leaving. I looked after him, wondering what the heck this had been about now.

Maybe Kei was right and I was not good at understanding people, but Keito was surely not good at making himself understood, either.

It made me all feel like exploding with frustration. I hated it when I did not have everything under control, and with Keito, everything seemed to just slip out of my fingers, and it was driving me insane.

I tried to concentrate on work, but it felt like, even throughout the rehearsal of our Johnnys’ World scenes, all I could think about was what was going on with Keito. We were rehearsing the Edo-Style fighting scene, and I was crossing the blades with Tsukada Ryoichi from A.B.C.-Z., and all that was going through my mind that I would like to just direct this sword to Keito and threaten him to talk to me instead of Kei.

It was then, that I heard a loud “thumb” and a groan, making me and everyone else freeze in our moves. I turned around and easily spotted Keito lying on the ground, hand on his right ankle, face in a painful grimace.

It felt like a punch into the stomach as I stood frozen, staring. Daiki and Kota were the quickest ones at his sides, asking frantically if everything was alright. Keito tried to wave their worry off, gulping his pain down visibly to stand up again, saying: “It’s fine, let’s just continue. Sorry for the interruption.”

“It’s not alright!” I groaned loudly, my frustration with him boiling up again. “Don’t always act like it’s nothing when it’s obviously not!”

Keito froze, his eyes meeting mine. I felt all other eyes on me, too, but I did not look up to meet them, instead focusing my eyes on Keito alone. There was a moment of dead silence, and Keito seemed to feel increasingly uncomfortable. I know he hated causing other people trouble.

“Sit down and rest for a moment” I said finally.

“It’s really okay” he murmured. “Don’t worry about me.”

I took a deep breath, just turning around without another word. Everyone returned to their place hesitantly, the mood tense, suddenly.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Keito hobbling back into position, his jaw clenched in pain. I gripped the sword in my hand a little tighter in frustration.

The scene started again, and with all my might I swung the blade against Tsukada’s. The metallic clinging was unexpectedly loud, and suddenly, everything became white.

***

The next thing I knew, we were standing in a different location, somewhere outside, and instead of Tsukada, Yuya was crossing blades with me, stepping back in shock from my force.

I blinked, staring at him in wonder – he was wearing a dark Kimono, not at all as flashy as the ones we wore for our musicals or concerts. And his hair, instead of the being styled in his typical idol style and died brown, was black, long and tied into a knot, the way samurais did throughout the Edo period.

I stared at him, blinking. But before I could say anything, I was distracted by Kota’s loud voice, calling: “Okamoto-dono, I really think it’s enough for today. You should take a break and rest your foot.”

I frowned in confusion, looking at Yuya questioningly. _Okamoto-dono?!_ But Yuya was not even looking at me, instead staring towards Kota and Keito, so I turned around as well, searching for them.

I could see Kota and Kei leaning over to Keito, who was kneeling on the floor, holding his paining foot. All of them wore the same kind of Kimono’s Yuya was wearing, and the same hair style.

Before I could even begin to figure out what all of this meant, Keito spoke up again, murmuring with a tight voice. “It is alright, Yabu-dono, really. I can bare with it.”

“No, you can’t” Kei spoke up, looking at him strictly. “Stop being a fool and take a rest.”

“If this were a fight with Nakayama’s troup, I could not simply take a rest, either” he reminded them through clenched teeth.

I was just opening my mouth to blurt out what Yuma had to do with all of this when Kei already replied: “But this is no fight, this is practice. And since it’s wartime, and a fight can break out anytime, it is more sensible for you to rest and regain your strength.”

Keito was about to say something more, but Kei interrupted him, saying: “I don’t want to hear another word. Off you go.”

Keito just nodded, and Kota helped him up, letting him lean onto him as they started walking. I stared after them, taking in our surroundings – we were settled in a huge yard inside a traditional Japanese building. I could not recognize the place as something I had ever visited before.

Finally, I looked down at myself – I, too, was wearing a dark Kimono like the others, only out of slightly finer cloth, as far as I could tell. I raised a hand through my hair, soon finding black, long strands between my fingers.

I gasped. What the-?!

“Yamada-gosho?” Yuya asked hesitantly, looking at me. “Is something wrong?”

I stared at him, shaking my head absentmindedly, just wondering where the camera’s were and how the heck Hikaru managed to pull a prank like this.

But this was not possible, was it? How could he have managed to? Which meant that this had to be real. But how?!

Yuya was still staring at me. I wondered if he thought I was sick or something. I must have looked pretty pale.

“You do not look that well either, if I may say so, Yamada-gosho” he continued, making Kei look up as well to muster me.

“Shall we maybe all take a break?” Kei asked finally. “We can continue this later, when you and Okamoto-dono are feeling better.”

I just nodded, not being able to say anything. Yuya and Kei looked at each other hesitantly, before finally bowing and leaving the yard as well, leaving me to myself and my own confusion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, cliffhangers, my speciality ;) Anyways, how did you like it? Please leave a comment to let me know!
> 
> Originally posted: http://vflmaeuschen.blog.com/2013/02/10/multichapter-future-in-the-past-chapter-1/


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!  
> So, here I am finally back with the next chapter. Sorry for the long wait, this story needs so much preparation time, with all these characters and pairings, some that I have never written before... But I'm giving my best!  
> This chapter is the start of the HokkuJesse and the FujiKita story lines. My first Kisumai pairing. Hope I did it satisfyingly ^^'

Jesse’s POV

It was 4 o’clock in the morning and I was aware that I should be fast asleep at this time, with two concerts ahead a little later today, but I could not stop myself from staring at Hokuto’s sleeping face, illuminated by only a little moonlight that shone into the room through a gap between the curtains. Hokuto seemed peaceful, only his chest rising and falling steadily with each breath, his feet mingling with mine in an unconscious search for heat. I could not go back to sleep and keep myself from staring at him even if I tried. 

It were moments like these, that I wondered how I ended up having the luck to be allowed to be the guy by his side. Hokuto and I had been a couple for a little over a month now, and it had been a steady process of us getting closer and closer, a little crush for a friend developing to falling head over heels, and to Hokuto confronting me straight forward, the way he always did when things got important and intense. Ever since, we had been attached by the hips, our friends stating that we were practically glowing with happiness. And I _was_ happy, blissfully even, just by having him by my side.

But with the obvious bond Hokuto and I had been forming, the attention had been increasingly moving towards us as well, creating a cliff in our not-yet-quite-formed band. 

I loved each and every one of our Bakaleya troop, and loved the atmosphere we had when we worked together. Yugo was the big brother I had never known I was missing, equally supporting me and being crazy alongside me in appropriate intervals. Shintaro, on the other hand, was like a younger brother, making all of us fuss over him as if on reflex. Taiga was exactly the right mix between professionally experienced and gentle and loyal to keep me want to learn from him without developing any hard feeling and over-competitiveness. And Juri was just so unbelievably bright and affectionate that he managed to loosen every tense atmosphere, no matter in what situation. 

I loved the idea of all of us together. Of our group to develop into a proper band, and of us to debut together someday. These people made me feel safe. 

But lately, somehow, the management had been starting to slowly break us apart, I felt. It started with small things, like Hokuto and me getting our own segments in magazines. Or us getting our own performances. But slowly, it felt like more and more attention was drawn to us as a combi, and as much as I enjoyed working with Hokuto, I was aware that we were somehow leaving the others behind, and it scared me more than anything. 

When I was here alone with Hokuto, watching his sleeping face and feeling his warmth, everything was perfect, but I could not help but feeling guilt towards the other members. I knew that they were supporting us, but still… something felt not right, and it scared me.

Almost without thought, I reached out to touch Hokuto’s cheek, feeling the soft skin of his face. He stirred, and his eyes fluttered in something between wake and sleep. 

“Hmm?” he just murmured, moving closer to me, sneaking his arms around my waist. 

“Nothing” I whispered, kissing the top of his head, his hair tickling my jaw. 

Hokuto just nodded, angling his face upwards. I got the message and leaned in, pressing my lips against his in a sweet kiss. When we broke apart again, he sighed and nuzzled his face into my shoulder, closing his eyes again. 

I closed my eyes too, holding onto him tightly.

***

“Jesse!” Hokuto groaned, snipping his fingers in front of my face to make me look up at him. “Gosh, I’ve been calling you 4 times already! Why are you so out of it?!”

“I’m not out of it” I denied automatically, despite the fact that I had been staring at the same bit of dirt on Yugo’s mirror for, um, 13 minutes. “I’m just… concentrating before we go on stage!”

“Yeah” Hokuto said sarcastically, pursing his lips. “If that’s what’s happening, you’ve been _concentrating_ for about two weeks now.”

I had no ready answer to that, and Hokuto sighed, the skin of his forehead wrinkling in an unhappy frown. 

“What’s bothering you, Jesse?” he asked gently. 

I stared at him, for a moment considering just revealing all my insecurities and worries to him. About our band being broken apart. About the others possibly growing to hate us when we continued getting more and more attention. About wondering if our selfish feelings for each other were maybe putting a strain on the others.

But then I chickened out of the thought immediately. Hokuto and I had only been together for a month – me expressing doubt in our relationship already could not be a good sign. Besides, I liked Hokuto. A lot. I felt lucky to have him by my side. I did not want to do anything to chance this.

So all I said, after a good 5 seconds of silence, was a lame: “It’s nothing, really. I’m just nervous, that’s all.”

Hokuto continued staring at me, before murmuring, very lowly: “I hate it when you’re lying to me.”

I blinked, but before I could even return anything, Hokuto had already turned around and left me alone in the dressing room.

***

All throughout the Junior concert, I found it hard to concentrate. My eyes kept unconsciously searching for Hokuto, but ever since our small confrontation before the concert, he had never as much as glanced into my direction.

Though I knew that it was my fault, it hurt more than anything.

Maybe I was not cut out for this, I realized. I was always messing up in important moments like these. Hokuto had probably hoped for something better. Had expected more from me, as his boyfriend.

Maybe I was just not good enough for him. 

When this thought hit me, I suddenly slipped on a piece of confetti on the floor, sliding over the edge of the stage. I whirled around, trying to regain my balance, but I had too much speed already and felt myself falling. 

It all happened very fast. Suddenly, there was Hokuto, reaching out for me, trying to catch my arm and keep me on stage. I tried to reach out for him, but my fingers nothing but graced his fingertips.

I closed my eyes, expecting the fall. 

It was then, that I suddenly felt a firm grip on my wrist, pulling me into a standing position. I blinked, opening my eyes, trying to focus my gaze against the sunlight blinding me. 

Wait. Sunlight? We were in the Yokohama Arena!

I finally opened my eyes fully, only to find myself nowhere even near the Yokohama Arena. I was in a backyard of an old traditional Japanese building, almost reminding me of the samurai residences I always had had to visit when my American grandparents came over for traveling. 

The hand around my wrist was Yugo’s, only that he looked nothing like he did a few minutes ago on stage. His hair was long and drawn back in a traditional samurai hairstyle, and he was wearing a plain black kimono.

I wondered how hard I had hit my head after falling off stage. 

Yugo scowled at me. 

“Inoo-dono, could you please try to watch out a little?!” he hissed lowly. “Kikuchi-gocho will have our heads when you are not paying proper attention!”

I blinked at him, wondering both if he forgot my name and what the heck he was talking about, when Yugo suddenly tensed, letting go of me. I looked around, needing a moment until I spotted Kikuchi Fuma approaching us. 

Only he did not seem like the Kikuchi Fuma _I_ knew. He had the same tight knot of long black hair as Yugo, but his Kimono was finer and his stare was threatening as he approached us. It made me freeze even though I had always found Kikuchi an incredibly nice and fun senpai.

“Inoo, Kouchi!” he snarled in an uncharacteristically harsh voice, his eyes zooming in on us. “If you want to talk and have tea time, please leave this troop so I can hire some younger ones who have the enthusiasm we need to find that Nakajima bastard and kill him!”

I only stared at him, my head feeling dizzy with all the information I did not understand. Kikuchi did not leave us any time to answer though as he pulled his Katana and drove it into the rice sack across from us. Rice poured out of it and I stared at the obviously _real_ sword in shock. 

“Focus!” Kikuchi hissed, before pulling the sword back and turning his back to us. 

Yugo glared at me, as if that all was my fault, when I just wanted to scream in confusion of what was going on here. But I did not dare to voice a question, still too aware of the Katana in Kikuchi’s hand.

***

Taisuke’s POV

“Can you please get that broomstick out of your ass?!” Kitayama asked lazily as he watched me from the side. “It’s just a freaking movie. Chill.”

“Who wrote that shitty script?!” I groaned, throwing the rolled paper across the room and hitting Senga in the head, making Nikaido crack up. “Seriously, I have no problems with fan service, but this… Why don’t they just go ahead and let us kiss on screen so we finally have it over with and can move on?!”

“Aww, Taisuke, I know you would like that, but I guess for that, you need to get your guts together and do it backstage.”

I choked at my drink, stuttering incoherent nonsense at Kitayama, and he just rolled his eyes.

“That was a _joke_ , Fujigaya” he sighed. “Gosh, I’d never have put you for the prude one. Why don’t you team up with Tama-Chan and complain to the management?!”

For that, he got a very helpful hit on the head from Tamamori with my rolled up script before he handed it back to me. 

“Stop bickering, you two, I want this over with” he threatened. 

Kitayama just pouted at him and I had to quickly look away, still feeling an unnatural warmth in my cheeks.

“Why does this guy always need to make such a big fuss out of everything?!” I complained to Wataru about 10 minutes later, having followed him to the toilet. “Really, he’s pissing me off so much!”

“You make it so much fun to tease you” Wataru stated drily, washing his hands. “Nika, Sen-Chan and Miyachii already have a bet going about when you are going to admit to your secret feelings for Mitsu.”

“WHAT?!” I called, whirling around to look at him. “What the fuck, Watta?!” 

“If it calms you down, I refused to get into it” he shrugged. “But yeah, you’re behaving pretty obvious!”

“I don’t have feelings for Kitayama!” I groaned, because seriously, _what the fuck?!_ “This guy annoys me to death, I would like to hold his head under water until all his biting remarks are washed out of his mouth! How could I have feelings for him?!”

“You know what they say, ‘tease the ones you love’…”

“Shut up!” I groaned. “Gosh I’ll leave the band and become a member of A.B.C-Z!”

“Good luck with Kawai” he chuckled, amused. “ _He_ is in on Nika’s bet.”

I wanted to punch him when he laughed at my face.

***

“This scene is stupid” I murmured to myself as I stood between Senga and Nikaido who practiced their transition into zombies. 

“Stop complaining, will you?!” Tamamori groaned. “It’s really getting old.”

I pursed my lips, falling silent as the director called us to silence. 

“Okay, everyone, don’t forget, in this scene, Yoshio tries to choke your leader” he called loudly, eyeing me a little wearily. “I want _proper_ concern. This is the climax of the movie!”

I suppressed the immature reaction of sticking my tongue out to him as he turned to the cameraman. 

When he finally called “Action”, I tried hard to concentrate only on my text and on my acting performance, but it was hard, when all I had to do was stare at Kitayama throughout the next 5 minutes. 

I mean, I knew that our job contained things like fan service, and I’d never had much problems with that. I had let Kamenashi Kazuya bite me with his plastic vampire teeth on stage, for heaven’s sake. I was used to a lot of shit. 

But why, god _why_ did the fans have to be so fond of the combination of me and Kitayama? The guy made me want to scream in frustration the moment I saw him. His big mouth and his seemingly careless manner, the way he always seemed to find just the right biting remark or smart answer to everything I had to say.

I swear, this guy’s only purpose in life was to annoy the heck out of me. 

As I stared up at him in the air, held up by a few belts and pretending to be choked to death by a ghost, I really wondered how fate could hate me so much by pairing me up with him. 

It was then, that I finally pulled myself together to make a move to “safe him” for the camera, and then, the belts were loosened and Kitayama fell forward, directly onto me. 

It was not that the chibi was exactly heavy, but still, the speed of it pushed me down so hard that I hit the back of my head against the wooden floor.

I opened my eyes to snap at him, because camera or not that had _hurt_ , and blinked when I looked up at Yasui Kentaro’s face.

Wait. Who had let in the Juniors?

“Are you alright, Fujigaya-gocho?” he asked frantically, reaching a hand out to me. 

“I am so sorry, Gocho!” another voice called, and I needed a moment to take note of the other Junior (which name I had momentarily forgotten) kneeling on the floor, bowing down to me. “Just because of my carelessness…”

“It’s fine” I murmured in confusion, absentmindedly grabbing Yasui’s hand and letting him pull me up. 

When I was finally in a standing position, I looked around, searching for Kitayama, but instead, I only found Nikaido and Senga standing across from us stiffly, Nikaido throwing meaningful looks to the Junior on the floor. 

Only Nikaido and Senga looked nothing like they had just a few moments ago. They were dressed in dark Kimono’s, and their long dark hair (seeing Senga with black hair made me want to call in a styling emergency) put up in something like a samurai hairstyle. 

It was only then, that I realized that Yasui and the other Junior were styled in a similar manner. I tried to remember where that had been written in the script, until I noticed that no cameras were around. 

Also, this was not the set. It looked like the yard of some old samurai mansion, or maybe our Byakkotai set a few years back. 

“I’m really sorry” the Junior on the floor repeated, showing no intentions of getting up, and I frowned at him.

“It’s alright, um” I looked helplessly to Yasui, who frowned before hissing: “Jinguji”

“ _Jinguji!”_ I called in realization and nodded. “Right. Um, say, why are you not with Sexy Zone? Did you lose your senpais?”

That made not only Jinguji look up at me in confusion, but also all the others in the round. Looking at all their blank faces, I wondered if I had said something extremely stupid. 

“Fujigaya-gocho, did you hit your head?” Senga asked carefully, approaching me. “I am sorry, but you are not making sense.”

I blinked, looking into the round again, and when everyone still looked at me with equal worry, I said in a small voice: “… Maybe I have?” 

“Please do lay down then, Gocho!” Nikaido said quickly, turning around to lead the way. “I will send you to your room.” 

I nodded shakily, and Senga had a hand on the small of my back as he pushed me to follow Nikaido. Maybe I really looked as unsteady as I felt.

I heard Yasui hiss something harsh at Jinguji, but did not have the heart to turn around and say something to them.

I was barely aware of where Nikaido and Senga led me, but when I finally found myself in an traditional tatami room with nothing but a linen bag and a futon in the corner, I turned around to my band mates questioningly.

“Please rest as long as you want, Gocho” Nikaido nodded, and he and Senga bowed once. “We will call on you later.”

I only blinked at them as they drew the door closed behind them. I stared at their shadows as they disappeared through the corridors. 

“Huh?” I murmured in confusion. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Please leave a comment, dying for feedback!


	4. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!  
> Updating now because I'm back in Germany and having a Reversed Culture Shock and craving reviews or anything to cheer me up ;_;  
> So, this chapter revolves around FumaKen, and is out of Kento's POV. I apologize for making Fuma seem like an ass ^^'  
> Anyways, hope you enjoy it!

Kento’s POV

I whimpered as Fuma hit me just right, clinging to the sweaty skin of his back, my fingernails probably leaving crescent imprints on it, but I could not bring myself to care as Fuma drove into me just that tiny bit harder and faster, making my mind blank.

I could tell that he was close by the way he panted “Nakajima” into my ear, and as if on clue, he sneaked a hand in between our bodies. If I ever had had a chance of holding out longer, it was definitely gone as he started jerking me off in time with his thrusts, and I leaned up to catch his lips in a messy kiss as I let my orgasm wash every last bit of awareness away.

When I finally came back to myself, I had just a moment to ravel in the warmth of Fuma’s embrace and the nice pressure of his weight resting completely on my body in the post-orgasm bliss before it was all already gone.

I opened my eyes, blinking at Fuma as he sat on the side of my bed, searching for his things.

“What are you doing?” I asked with a frown.

“I have to go, or I will miss my last train” he murmured, pulling his sweatshirt over his head.

“So what?” I murmured, reaching out for him over the matrices to where he was holding himself steady with his left arm while putting on his socks. “You can crash here.”

Before my fingers could close around his wrist, though, he had already stood up to get into his pants.

“You know I have school tomorrow” he murmured distractedly. “And you have university.”

I pouted, but Fuma did not turn to me to see it. Instead he collected all of his stuff before chancing a look at the clock, cursing under his breath.

“Shit, I really need to go” he murmured, waving to me. “I’ll see you tomorrow at rehearsals!”

I was about to say something, but he had already rushed through the door, letting it fall closed behind himself. I stared at the too full calendar on the door Fuma had just disappeared through for at least 5 minutes before rolling around and finally closing my eyes, feeling as left alone as always.

This thing between Fuma and me had been going on for a while now. I was not quite sure what to call it, because it was not really like we were in a relationship, neither publicly nor secretly.

It had started some weeks into the concert tour earlier this year. We had been sharing a room at some places, making us spend more and more time together, and something had been building up, though I had not quite been able to tell what, at that point.

Until after one concert, in the post-stage hyperness, we had ended up kissing.

That had been the first night Fuma and I had slept together, awkward and pressed up against each other in a small hotel bed. It had felt amazing, and when I had watched him sleeping next to me, I had realized that my feelings for him were not those of a best friend anymore.

I was in love with him.

I had thought that, after we had made the first step, we would automatically slip into a good relationship, because seriously, Fuma and I fit together so well. We knew each other, and we were such a good team, always balancing each other out… I thought it would be perfect.

But somehow, it had never come to that. On the surface, everything had stayed the same, even – in public, we only acted like work partners and friends. Not even our closest friends knew that something was going on between us, and while I knew that we had to be careful, the way Fuma obsessively tried to cover everything up that could only hint on something more than friendship was a little ridiculous.

I would have not thought much of it, though, if everything were as perfect as I had expected it to be when we were alone. But it was far from it. Never, not even once, had Fuma and I talked about what was going on between us. I had known from the start that Fuma was awkward and shy when it came to talking about his feelings, his manly pride getting in the way. But I, on the other hand, needed these kind of conversations, both to calm down my insecurities and to make me feel safe. Only whenever I tried to talk, Fuma became stiff and would make a joke and change the subject. Or lead it to sex.

Yeah, sex. That was the only thing that worked between us recently. Whenever we were touching each other, I could forget that I was freaked out and discontent with the way Fuma was behaving. When he was kissing me, everything felt perfect and blissful and I felt loved.

And then he would just leave and act like nothing happened, and I felt like I was just being used.

I closed my eyes, trying to chase those thoughts away. I knew that Fuma was not like that, of course. I knew Fuma had issues when it came to expressing himself, when it came to telling people how much they meant to him… It had never been a big deal to me while we had only been friends. He had had other ways of expressing himself. I had understood him anyways.

Only lately, either I had stopped being able to read between the lines, or he had simply stopped trying. Because I could not tell what he was thinking anymore. Couldn’t see what I really meant to him. If he really had feelings as strong for me as I had them for him, or if I was just… a friend with benefits. If at all.

I had tried to hold out. Had tried believing in him and hoping that, at some point, he would just loosen up and become more sincere. Only that all these insecurities started to pile up inside of me, like a huge snow ball of emotions I felt I had no control over anymore. I started to feel small and meaningless next to Fuma, and became more and more desperate for any kind of affection from him, if only a little kiss or a touch of his hand. I had never been clingy, but now… I felt like I did not recognize myself anymore.

And then, a month ago, Hokuto and Jesse had gotten together. It was not like I was not happy to see Hokuto happy – we had always stayed close after the breakup of B.I. Shadow, and the way his eyes shone when Jesse was around endearing to observe – but seeing how loving Hokuto and Jesse were with each other, it became even more obvious to me what Fuma and I were missing.

Only I was scared to take the consequences of it. I did not want to admit that this thing between us wasn’t working. That maybe, we should just end it already and search for someone who could give us what we needed.

Only I did not want anyone but Fuma. No matter if he could not express himself, no matter if I was not sure what I even meant to him… I loved him.

I balled my hands into fists, almost missing when my phone rang on my side table. For a short intense moment, I hoped that it was Fuma. But when I touched the screen and Hokuto’s name flashed up, my heart sank somewhere into the pit of my stomach. Yeah, sure. Why would Fuma even write to me. He was not one to send goodnight messages, after all.

“Hey there~~~ Are you free on Thursday night?? It’s been a while since we hung out!”

Disappointed, I put the phone down again, not in the mood to answer now. Hanging out with Hokuto had become increasingly difficult lately. It was hard for me to hear about his perfect relationship when my own was so messed up, and I couldn’t tell him about it. Stupid Fuma and his stupid issues.

“Why do I like him so much again?” I murmured to myself, closing my eyes.

***

When I arrived at the set the next day after university, Fuma was already busy fooling around with Kawai and Hasshi, not taking any note of my arrival. So I mostly kept to myself, not in the mood for much conversation, instead sitting in a corner and trying to memorize the changes in our script. Every now and then, I peeked into Fuma’s direction, but I never met his eyes.

It was only when A.B.C-Z and JUMP were rehearsing the fighting scene that I found myself alone with Fuma again for the first time.

I watched Fuma walk around the dressing room, trying to fix his hair or collecting his things, before I was sick of being ignored and got up to catch him in a hug.

Fuma tensed as my arms found their way around his waist, and I pressed my chest against his back. There was a nervous look around.

“Stop it, Nakajima” he hissed, grabbing my wrist to break my hold on him. “Someone could walk in any minute.”

“So what?!” I murmured testily, trying to hold on, but Fuma successfully winded himself out of my grip. “Who cares?!”

“I care!” Fuma said pointedly as he turned to face me. “I don’t want things to get awkward!”

I bit my lip, not looking at him, and Fuma mustered me with a frown.

“What’s wrong with you?” he murmured finally. “You are weird lately.”

My eyes snapped up to him in the blink of an eye.

“I’m weird?!” I hissed. “I’m behaving perfectly normal, you’re the one who- who-“

“I’m what?” Fuma challenged, and I shut my mouth, not sure what to answer. You’re the one who avoids me. You’re the one who never tells me what you’re feeling for me. You’re the one who pretends like there’s nothing going on between us. What answers would I get if I spoke those words out loud? I was afraid to find out.

Fuma sighed, shaking his head.

“I can’t see through you, Nakajima, you know?” he said in frustration. “You have to talk to me.”

It were those words that made me burst. Because what the fuck, this whole thing was not my fault!

And before I knew it, I was already shouting at Fuma.

“I’m not talking?!” I called in a shrill voice. “I am perfectly fine with talking, you are the one who always runs for the woods whenever I even address that we fucking sleep with each other!”

“Will you lower your voice?!” Fuma hissed, but I only became louder, screaming.

“Oh, stop with your paranoia of someone finding out!” I groaned. “No one freaking cares if we’re involved with each other or not! Is anyone making a deal out of Jesse and Hokuto?! No, and they are anything but discreet!”

“But we are not Jesse and Hokuto!” Fuma groaned defensively. “I’m not like that, and you know it! I’m not good with things like these!”

It was then, that I felt tears crawling up my throat because fuck it, why did he have to make this so difficult?!

“If being with me bothers you so much, then why are we even doing this?!” I asked with a choked voice, and Fuma’s eyes snapped up to my face.

“Okay, wait!” Fuma said loudly, taking a step towards me. “This was not where I was going with this!”

“Then where were you going with this?!” I called desperately, and no matter how hard I balled my fist to control myself, the first tears started to spill anyways. “Where are we going with this?! What am I to you?!”

“You know what you mean to me!” Fuma said desperately.

“No I don’t!” I shrieked. “And I’m sick of feeling like a booty call! So if you can’t do this, then maybe we should just put an end to it!”

“What do you mean? You want to break up with me?” Fuma murmured, stunned, and when I did not answer right away, he called: “You can’t do this, Nakajima!”

“You can’t even freaking say my name!” I called in a shaking voice. “Not even mentioning that you love me or that you want to be with me. And you call this a relationship?!”

Fuma grabbed my wrist, but I shook his grip off, taking a step backwards from him.

“Don’t touch me now, I swear-“

“If you would just freaking listen to me!” Fuma groaned, reaching for my hand again, but I turned my back to him, wanting to flee the room. “Nakajima! Wait!”

It was when I was almost at the door, that there was a hand on my shoulder, turning me around and pressing me into the wall. I struggled, and because of that, I collided the wall more painfully than expected, my head crashing against it hard. I closed my eyes and cursed.

When I opened them again, I found myself in a bed, being shaken gently.

“Nakajima-gocho” I recognized Marius’ voice even before I turned to frown at him. “It’s time to get up. We were informed that Takizawa-Shomyo is calling for a meeting later today.”

I stared at him perplexed, wondering if he was speaking German again, when I realized that he looked nothing like the Marius I knew – he had black hair which was long and tied together in a traditional samurai knot, and he was wearing a dark Kimono as he kneeled at my futon.

Yeah, my futon. I looked around, finding myself in a small tatami room instead of our dressing room. Fuma was also nowhere to be seen.

I blinked, still trying to figure out what was happening or if I really had hit my head so hard that I was hallucinating when Marius continued timidly: “Nakajima-gocho? Are you alright?”

“Why do you keep calling me ‘Gocho’, Mari-Chan?” I murmured in confusion. “And why are you here?! You’re supposed to be absent today because of an exam! And where is Fuma?! Where is A.B.C-Z and JUMP?”

Marius looked at me with big eyes and we fell silent for a moment before Shori walked in, bowing deeply before saying: “Good morning, Gocho. I am sorry, but I need to take Yo-dono with me for a moment. Matsumura-dono is calling for us.”

“Sato-dono” Marius whispered, glancing at me worriedly. “I think Nakajima-gocho has a fever. He is not making any sense.”

“What?” Shori froze, looking at me. “Gocho, you’re not feeling well? Shall I call Taguchi-Sensei?”

“I – Taguchi-who?!” I stuttered, and Shori exchanged an even more alarmed gaze with Marius. “Can anyone tell me what the heck is going on here?! Just now I was talking to Fuma and then-“

“I’ll call Taguchi-Sensei” Shori said firmly, standing up and hurrying out the door again. Marius looked after him as if he did not want to be left alone with me.

Maybe I really had a fever, I figured. Because the whole thing was really not making a lot of sense. Or maybe I had really hit my head and this was a dream. I tried to pinch myself, but when Marius looked at me weirdly, I let my hands fall into my lap awkwardly.

“So” I murmured, trying to find something reasonable to say. “Where is Fuma?” There, that was a reasonable question, right?

Still, Marius looked at me like I had just demanded of him to go get Santa Claus in the middle of July.

“Fuma” I repeated when he did not answer. “You know, our band mate. Long black hair. Duck face. Voice half of the agency would kill for. Fuma.”

Marius looked around helplessly, almost jumping up when someone passed the door.

“Matsumura-dono!” he called, grabbing someone’s arm and pulling him into the room. “Nakajima-gocho is sick and is asking for Kikuchi-gocho! What am I supposed to say?”

“What?” I recognized Hokuto’s confused voice before he appeared in the room. I was weirdly relieved to see him, even though he was dressed and styled the same way as Marius and Shori, but yeah, Hokuto was probably more reliable than Marius and Shori.

“Hokuto!” I called, sitting up. “Tell me what’s going on here! Everyone looks at me like I have gone insane! Did I hit my head during rehearsals or what happened? And where is Fuma?!”

Hokuto looked at me with big eyes, before murmuring to Marius: “Did you call Taguchi-Sensei?!”

“Oh come on, you’ve got to be kidding me!” I groaned, staring at him in frustration. “Why does nobody understand a word I say?!”

It was that moment, that Shori came rushing into the room with none other than Taguchi Junnosuke, also dressed in a black Kimono and his long black hair tied in a ponytail, looking simpler than the hairstyle of the others.

“He is still talking nonsense” Marius told Shori in alarm. “He is all the time asking for Kikuchi-gocho!”

“Kikuchi-gocho?” Taguchi asked, seeming amused as he pushed through the others to kneel next to my futon. “We all appreciate your sense for the battle, Nakajima-gocho, but you should not go and call for your enemies when you are sick in bed.”

“Enemies?” I repeated in confusion, eyeing the bag with old looking medical utensils in his hand wearily. Hallucination or not, I was not sure if I wanted to be treated by Taguchi Junnosuke.

“Well, the times when you two were friends are long over, aren’t they” he shrugged, reaching out to feel my forehead.

I stared into the round questioningly, and everyone seemed to equal parts scared and worried.

“… Maybe I really do have a fever?” I murmured quietly, and Taguchi frowned, murmuring: “Well, your temperature seems normal. Maybe you are overworked? Either way, you should rest a little. I will talk to Takizawa-Shomyo and tell him that you won’t be able to join them tonight.”

I only nodded, only understanding half of what he was saying. I was not sure what to think or feel. All I knew was that I really, really wanted to see Fuma.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like it? Please leave a review if you did, it would (seriously) make my day!  
> One more pairing to go in the next chapter, and then we have everyone introduced to the story!


	5. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!  
> Finally new chapter, this time introducing the TakaChii story line! Hope you like it :D

Yuri’s POV

I looked up from my script lazily when Yuya’s phone rang for the 3rd time in 5 minutes across the table. 

“Who are you writing with?!” Hikaru snapped testily, throwing an empty chocolate wrapper at Yuya. “Tell your girlfriend to shut up!”

“It’s Juri” Yuya sighed. “He’s sending me photos from the backstage of their Junior concert!”

“Well, then tell your girlfriend to shut up and get to work!” Hikaru repeated pointedly, and Kota chuckled, murmuring: “Don’t let Koki-Kun hear that you’re calling him that.”

“Well, with the way Juri is clinging to Takaki I am waiting every day for him to marry them off.” 

Yuya threw the chocolate paper back at him with a glare, and their bickering continued for a little longer still, so I closed my script and moved across the room, not being able to listen to Juri’s name for even one more time. 

It was not that I did not like Tanaka Juri. He was nice and funny and a lot less scary than his big brother, but lately, I felt like “accidentally” locking him up in a broom cupboard whenever I saw him at Shounen Club filming. I knew that it was irrational, and I knew exactly why I was feeling that way, too…

It was because of his obvious obsession with Yuya. 

Ever since Yuya and I had traveled to France together, spent so much time side by side, I had noticed that he was special for me. At first, I had not been able to comprehend it – he had never been different from the other JUMP members before. When we had started out as Hey! Say! 7, he had been this slightly clumsy brotherly figure that I had enjoyed being spoiled by. Then we had grown older, Yuya had grown a sense for coolness and I had become increasingly too old to be spoiled, and we had drifted slightly apart. 

But after J’J Journey, this had drastically changed. I had rediscovered how comfortable I felt around Yuya, how much fun I could have with him, and how happy he made me feel without even putting an effort to it. 

I began to take note of his good sides more and more – his mature and polite manner, his helpfulness… and his smile. Whenever he was smiling, everything just somehow seemed alright, even if we were stuck in a village in the middle of French nowhere without a bed to sleep in for the night. 

I had not realized what it meant until we had been back home and the usual work routine had started again, and I felt myself watching Yuya more than before. Discovering new things about him day by day that way, even though we had worked together for so long, and… 

Yeah, slowly, it had dawned on me that these feelings for Yuya were too intense to be explained away as appreciation for a friend anymore. That I was developing a crush that was only waiting to turn into love if I just let it. 

The thought had made me panic, at first, but soon, I had figured that there was not much I could do about my feelings. They were _there_ , after all, and by suppressing them I would not make them go away. 

So I decided to just enjoy the time I was allowed to spend in Yuya’s presence, even if it was probably never going to turn into more. 

That was the plan… But lately, my jealousy was getting more and more in the way. I knew that Yuya did not think much of Juri, of course – he thought he was funny and was as nice a senpai to him as he was to everyone else, but he definitely didn’t think of him _that way_ , I could tell. 

I was not even sure if Juri thought of him that way or if he was just joking, but the way he was running behind Yuya like a lovesick puppy was really getting on my nerves. I could not help it. 

When I had stared at my script without reading a single word for at least 5 minutes, I put it down in frustration, standing up to leave the room and grab a CC Lemon from the vending machine down the corridor. 

I needed a moment, to realize that someone was following me.

“I smell jealousy” Inoo pointed out smugly as he poked my cheek, catching up with me. I looked at him wearily.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about” I murmured. 

“No, just like Keito _isn’t_ pining over Yama-Chan, you’re not pining over Takaki. _Not at all_.”

“What the-?!” I stuttered, not being able to help the blush that was spreading over my cheeks. “You’re reading too many fanfictions!”

“I’m writing my bachelor essay, do you really think I have time to stalk after you and Takaki?!” he frowned. “I don’t need to, I get my live show every day at work.”

“Haha” 

“Don’t you ‘haha’ me” he said strictly, poking me into my ribs. “Seriously, don’t you want to do anything about this? I’ve watched you two ever since you returned from France. Daiki and I have a bet going about when you two will finally hit it off, and I don’t want to lose my 5,000 bucks.”

I only rolled my eyes at him, not answering as I threw some coins into the vending machine. 

“Come on, Chinen, you’re smarter than Keito and Ryosuke combined” he continued, uncharacteristically seriously. “And definitely smarter than Takaki. You should make the first move. I’m more than sure that he feels the same for you.”

I gulped, still not answering, and Inoo sighed in defeat. 

“Fine, I get it” he murmured. “I’ll leave you to it and wash Yama-Chan’s head instead, or Yuto will beat me to it, and I want to win at least _one_ bet.”

With that, he trotted off, and I stared after him wearily before knocking my head against the vending machine in frustration. 

***

When I came back, all of us were called to rehearse the Edo-style fighting scene between our band and the A.B.C-Z members. Inoo’s words were still planted in my mind, repeating in my head like a bad commercial song, and I found it hard to concentrate. 

It was then, that I heard a thumping noise and a loud groan, and I blinked, turning to find Keito kneeling on the floor, holding his ankle. Before I could even react, Daiki and Kota had already rushed to his side, asking if he was okay and helping him up. Keito tried to wave their worry off, gulping his pain down visibly to stand up again, saying: “It’s fine, let’s just continue. Sorry for the interruption.”

I was about to turn back to Goseki as suddenly, Ryosuke’s loud and angry voice made us all freeze and turn to him.

“It’s not alright!” he groaned loudly, his eyes fixed on Keito in obvious frustration. “Don’t always act like it’s nothing when it’s obviously not!”

I blinked at Ryosuke’s overreaction, looking back and forth between him and Keito before meeting Inoo’s eyes. He wiggled his eyebrows at me in an expression that could mean nothing but “Told you”, and I figured that maybe, he really had an eye for these kind of things. 

“Sit down and rest for a moment” Ryosuke said to Keito, and Keito answered uncomfortably: “It’s really okay. Don’t worry about me.”

Ryosuke turned away from him with a glare, obviously pissed. It was not like Ryosuke had not been testy anyways lately, as overworked as he was, but the way he had been fighting with Keito recently… It was a little scary. Maybe Inoo was right, and there was really something going on between those two. 

But yeah, even if he was right about Keito and Ryosuke, and me, obviously, that still didn’t mean that he was right about Yuya. Because it was _me_ who had been watching him for the last few months, and I would have noticed if Yuya returned my feelings. Sure, we had grown closer ever since France, but that still didn’t mean…

I glanced at Yuya uncomfortably, almost missing the clue for the scene to start again. I got my blade up to shield myself from Goseki’s approach just in time, closing my eyes at the loud sound. 

When I opened them again, though, I found myself across from Yuma instead of Goseki. 

Only Yuma looked nothing like the Yuma I knew. His hair was black and long and pulled up in a knot that I recognized out of samurai movies, video games and history books, and he was wearing a dark kimono, looking like he had appeared straight out of a filming for a Taiga Drama or something. 

He waved in front of my face, as if trying to get my attention.

“Chinen-dono!” he called impatiently. “Are you listening to me?”

I blinked, discreetly taking a look around. I was sitting on a table, in something like a traditional Japanese dining room. The stage and the rest of the Johnny’s World cast were nowhere to be seen. 

I looked down at myself, finding myself in similar clothing as Yuma’s. 

When Yuma started talking again, I met his eyes as if in trance.

“I got an order from Nishikido-Daisho. He wants us to cross the boundaries and meet Sanada-dono, he has a report about Ueda’s troop ready for us.”

I only nodded, though I had not understood a single word of what he had told me. Yuma did not seem to expect an answer from me, though, just standing up and moving for the door.

I scrambled myself up from my sitting position slowly, looking around for camera’s or Hikaru or _anything_ that would reveal what was going on here, but finding nothing. Yuma waited at the door for me to follow, frowning a little as I only trailed behind slowly, but not saying anything. 

I observed Yuma silently, trying to figure out the situation. After thinking through all the facts carefully on the way through the corridors of an unknown traditionally Japanese building, I came to the conclusion that a) I was dreaming or possibly fantasizing, which, considering the situation I had been in _before_ I started dreaming could not mean anything good about my physical health, b) Hikaru was pulling a very good prank on me (which was kind of impossible because even Hikaru could not change the scenery like this in the middle of rehearsals, at least not if he wasn’t a wizard who had graduated from Hogwarts early because of uber-intelligence which he had wanted me to believe once or twice), or c) wherever I had landed in, this was real. 

And as much as I was inclined to believe in a), I figured that maybe I had to consider the possibility of c) as well, just in case. 

Yuma interrupted me in my thoughts as he suddenly stopped at another door, turning around to look at me. 

“You have your Katana with you?” he asked quietly, meeting my eyes. “We’re entering Higashi no Chu territory, after all. We could meet Yamada, or other enemies.”

I blinked, looking down at myself, seeing the cover of a Katana fixed at the Obi of my Kimono. I reached out to touch it, realizing there was a real sword inside. 

I looked back at Yuma, and he nodded before opening the door and stepping outside. 

I followed him, and found myself in front of a river in the middle of a forest. There was a small path leading from the residence we had just exited to a make-shift bridge which Yuma was approaching without hesitance. 

I followed him quickly, my mind working fast.

Okay, this was definitely not Tokyo. So, considering that this was real, and considering the clothes both Yuma and I were wearing, and the way Yuma was talking… 

… Did that mean we were in the Edo Period?

I had read about things like time slips before, of course. There were enough movies and dramas and video games out there that revolved around that subject, but until now, I had never even considered the possibility of it being, um, _real_. 

But yeah, either I was dreaming, or I had indeed time traveled. And I was not sure which explanation was more alarming. 

I kept my eyes fixed on Yuma’s back as I followed him, still keen on any kind of clue about what was going on here. So, if this was real…

Yuma had mentioned something about a mission given by a Daisho. As far as I could remember from my history classes, a Daisho had been some kind of upper commandant during the Edo Period. The leader of an army. 

Which meant probably that Yuma and I were part of the Army. Maybe Yuma was even in an upper rank, since he had spoken directly to the Daisho, apparently. I was not sure simple soldiers were allowed to do that. 

So, what else had Yuma mentioned? There had been something about crossing borders. The name of a territory. Higashi no something. And something about enemies. Did that mean we were in some kind of war situation? 

And he had mentioned the name Yamada in connection with the enemies. Yamada as in Yamada Ryosuke? No, that couldn’t be, could it? But on the other hand, if Yuma was here, technically, everyone could be. But would Ryosuke be an enemy of us? It was hard to imagine. 

I stared at Yuma’s back, wondering if I could dare to ask him about some things or if that would make me suspicious, when suddenly, I heard movement nearby. Yuma reacted immediately, diving to hide behind a bush, and I followed his example, remembering that we were probably in enemy territory already. 

My eyes became wide when someone started speaking, and I recognized the voices immediately.

“Are you okay, Yamada-gocho?!” I heard Inoo Kei ask, and his question was answered by an exasperated Yamada Ryosuke.

“No! Nothing is okay! What is this bullshit here?! What is all of this supposed to mean?! What is all of this about war?! We’re living in a time of peace, there is no war in Japan! We sing about it, we mention it in musicals and movies and dramas, but there is no actual war anymore!”

My eyes grew wide, and I frantically tried to peak through the bushes until I finally got a view of Ryosuke standing in front of Inoo, staring at him in obvious desperation, while Inoo seemed merely confused. 

“Say something!” Ryosuke demanded angrily. “What the hell is going on here?! I-“

Before I could react or even realize what was going on, though, Yuma had moved up from next to me. I merely had enough time to see him draw his Katana before he had already jumped out of the bushes and grabbed Ryosuke by the hair, directing the blade to his throat. Inoo had his hand on the belt, too, about to draw his Katana, but freezing with his eyes focused on Ryosuke. 

Panicked, I scrambled myself up, no idea what to do or say. Because whatever was going on here, this situation was definitely out of control, with my friends directing their swords against each other. 

Before I could say anything, though, Ryosuke had already opened his mouth to speak, though all he brought out was a shocked: “Yuma!”

If I had not been sure until now that Ryosuke had also come from the present, like me, now it was completely clear. But how was all of this possible?! What had we gotten into?!

Yuma did not show any sign of mercy to Ryosuke’s address, though. Instead, he smiled bitterly, murmuring: “What, Yamada, are we being emotional today? The times when it was okay to call me that are long over.”

Quickly, I tried to think of something to do or say. Because clearly, if no one stopped Yuma, he would kill Ryosuke, and all this enemies and friends stuff aside, now that I had finally found someone in the same situation as me, I could not just let him die. 

So when Yuma grabbed his blade tighter, I just blurted out: “Stop!” Yuma froze for a moment, and I took that as a good sign, thinking quickly as I continued: “We are not here to fight! We have a mission from the Daisho, remember!”

“But if they run so willingly into our arms…” Yuma murmured, his eyes still fixed on Ryosuke, and the calm and calculating tone in his voice seriously scared me. This was not the klutzy and gentle Yuma _I_ knew.

“It is not upon us to decide the time for a fight” In my panicked state, I just recited a line I remembered from a video game I had once played, not knowing what else to say. 

It seemed to work, though, even if Yuma clicked his tongue in annoyance, but he murmured something I could not quite catch to Ryosuke before letting go of him. Ryosuke still stared at him as if in a complete trance.

“Next time we meet, I won’t be as mild” he warned before turning into my direction again, continuing down our earlier path with a short nod towards me. I quickly followed him, balling my hands into fists as I heard Ryosuke calling after us. I picked up a loud and desperate “YUMA!”, and when I chanced a look back, I saw Inoo holding Ryosuke back, hissing warnings to him. 

It almost hurt physically to force my gaze away from Ryosuke and back to Yuma. I was still not quite sure what was going on here, but with the way Yuma was behaving, I could sense that it would be stupid to talk to Ryosuke now, like this. I would have to find another opportunity for that, when Yuma wasn’t around. 

And if possible, I needed to get more answers until then. 

I froze when Yuma halted again at the sight of another person. This time, he did not draw his Katana, and I quickly scanned the face of the guy a few feet from us, recognizing it immediately. 

It was Sanada Yuma. 

He nodded at Yuma once, and Yuma nodded back, before Sanada drew a paper roll out of his Kimono sleeve. He threw it over to Yuma quickly, who caught it, packing it safely away into his own Kimono.

Sanada nodded once more before disappearing back into the woods. 

“Let’s leave” Yuma hissed to me, turning on his heels. “Before Inoo and Yamada alert their men.”

I nodded helplessly, my pulse racing as I followed him back into the direction we had come from. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to review, I'm dying for feedback!
> 
> Also, please note - I put a character chart as "Chapter 1", so if you ever feel confused about the characters and their positions in their troops and whatever in the past, please feel free to check it!


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Here the next chapter, this time with Ryosuke's POV!  
> Also, I want to address something - first of all, I am very happy that now that I started posting in LJ communities again, I gained new readers :D I'm glad the effort pays off and that you all seem to like the story!  
> But I have the impression that some readers only read some chapters of the story, those of their fave pairings. While I am happy about every reader, of course, I am a little concerned, because this is not the way I intended to construct the story. For the introduction chapters, the characters might not be having much interacting, but soon the story lines will entwine and I will not repeat every incident from everyone's POV, or it will get boring for the readers who read everything. So that means if you only read one person's POV, you will keep missing things and won't understand the story anymore, at some point. Please keep that in mind. I know it's sometimes hard to find the motivation to read pairings you don't know or like, but in a good book you also don't skip the pages when one character is gone, right? :) Hope you can have the same patience with my fanfiction. I am putting a lot of thought and effort into this, so I think you won't get bored while reading every characters POV. Please give it a try!  
> Now, enough talk, onto the story! :)

Ryosuke’s POV

I don’t know how long I just stood there, in the yard of this traditional Japanese building, sword in my hand, staring off into space, wondering if this was not a dream. Because it could not be real, right?

A moment ago, I had still stood in front of Tsukada in the Imperial Theatre, rehearsing musical scenes, and now… What was this?!

Maybe I had been knocked out, I figured. Or I had fainted from the lack of sleep. It seemed more reasonable than this being real. 

It was then, that I heard footsteps, and excited voices. My first reaction was to jump behind the next fence and hide. I was not sure why, but fact was that I felt like I was the intruder in some foreign scene, and the last thing I wanted was to be caught and asked what I was doing here, because hell, I did not know myself. 

I strained my ears, and realized that the voices seemed awfully familiar. Carefully, I peaked around a corner, seeing two figures pass by on the other side of the yard – one in a long dark Kimono, not unlike mine, only with a few more adornments, the other in a brighter one, soft green and white. 

“Really” the latter one murmured, a little exasperated. “Can’t we just talk about this?!”

“No” the other replied, his tone firm. “The order came from far up, and you know that.”

“But you are the one who can turn things around again in the end, Kamenashi-Daisho, and you know it!” 

I froze at the name, focusing my eyes more closely on the two figures – and sure enough, now that I looked, I recognized Kamenashi Kazuya’s profile easily. But not only he was well known to me, I realized as I studied the other’s face…

“Takizawa-Shomyo!” Kamenashi-Senpai groaned, stopping to turn around to him. “Can we please stop this discussion?! Direct your complaints to the Daimyo, if you want, but-“

“He is too blinded by the hate for his brother to listen!” Takizawa-Senpai protested. “So I thought I’d appeal to your sense! Please, if you just talked to Nishikido, maybe-“

“There is nothing to talk about” Kamenashi-Senpai cut him off firmly. “We are in war, and way past the time for discussions. So, if you would excuse me…”

“WAIT!” Takizawa-Senpai called as he turned around, hurrying after him to catch up. I stared after them, not being able to make sense of their words. Nishikido, as in Nishikido Ryo? War? What the-?!

In my confusion, I had not heard anyone approaching me, but when I heard a voice right behind me calling my name, I jumped, almost tripping over my own feet.

Looking up, I recognized Uchi Hiroki’s face, looking down at me with his expression torn in a mixture of amusement and alarm. 

“May I ask what you are doing on the floor, Yamada-Gocho?” he continued politely. 

“Nothing” I murmured hastily, quickly getting to my feet. “I – I was just…”

Uchi-Senpai raised an eyebrow and waited for me to continue, but when I didn’t, he let it drop, instead asking: “I met Yabu-dono a moment ago. Okamoto-dono got hurt?” 

“Um, yes” I stuttered. 

“You should watch out for your men” he proposed with a sigh. “You will need them in the fight against Nakayama. And for all I saw, Okamoto-dono is a pretty good fighter. Make sure he recovers quickly.”

I only nodded, my thoughts blurring inside each other, screaming things like: “Keito, a good fighter?! He would kill himself trying to fight, being the klutz he is!” or “What the heck are they all going on about Yuma?!” 

Uchi-Senpai did not seem to need any more response from me, though – he only bowed politely and passed me, making his way inside the next door. 

I stood there in confusion, looking after him, wondering what the heck was going on here. Because seriously, this could not be some prank of my band mates anymore. Even if they had managed to knock me out in the middle of rehearsals and kidnapped me and forced me into this kind of attire, I doubt that they could have engaged all these Senpais into their childish games. 

So what was all this about?! Was I really dreaming?! I drew back the sleeve of my Kimono, pinching the skin of my arm, making a face as I felt it. Apparently that was not it, either. 

But that meant… No, it couldn’t be real, right? What the heck was happening here?!

In some left over hope that all of this would turn out as a movie coulisse, I opened the nearest door, the one Uchi-Senpai had just disappeared through, peaking inside – what I encountered was a long, empty corridor. Intrigued, I stepped inside, drawing the door closed behind me, taking a look around. 

I felt a little like I was back to filming Yamada Akiyoshi Monogatari, a historic tanpatsu I had done earlier this year. The inside of the building looked a lot like the film sets I had been on then, depicturing the perfect image of Edo period. 

Tentatively, I made my way down the corridor, trying to look out for cameras or at least anything modern, until I heard footsteps down the other end of the corridor. Not being ready for another conversation, I panicked, and fled into the first door I could find. 

At first, I did not realize that I was not alone in the room – it was not until a soft, familiar voice called out my name that I looked around and spotted Keito sitting on a bench on the other side of the room, his hurt foot resting in a bowl of what seemed to be ice water. 

Instead of making me panic, like the encounter with Uchi-Senpai had done, Keito’s presence managed to calm me a little. At least, in this huge whole chaos, he was someone I felt that I could trust.

Keito bowed his head at me before I could even speak up, saying: “I am sorry for interrupting our practice, Yamada-Gocho! I swear it won’t happen again!”

“Stop it” I hissed, annoyed by his apology, despite this awkward situation. “You can’t help it if you’re hurt… How is your foot?” 

He opened his mouth to answer, but his reply got stuck in his throat when I crossed the distance to him , kneeling down and reaching out for his foot, making him raise it out of the water to take a look at it. With a pang of worry, I noticed that it was quite swollen. 

I looked up at him, seeing him look at me with big shocked eyes. 

“What?!” I asked defensively.

“I – you are so – forget it” Keito stuttered, and I realized that he was blushing a little. 

“I am so what?!” I continued, not wanting to let him get away with that. 

Keito looked at me, seeming like he thought it was not really appropriate for him to say what he would now, but when my expression stayed firm and impatient, he whispered: “You are so gentle today.”

“And usually, I’m not?” I frowned, a little offended. 

“Not when it comes to the fight with Nakayama-gocho, no” he shook his head.

“What are you all going on about Yuma?!” I demanded, my voice raising a little in my desperation. “I don’t get it!”

“ _Yuma_?” Keito repeated, stunned. “I have not heard you speak his first name since before we started school.”

“What the heck?!” I groaned. “I always call Yuma by his first name. We are in one freaking band, why shouldn’t I?!”

“Band?” Keito murmured, blinking. “What is that?” 

“A band is a band!” I called, exasperated. “You know, NYC, Hey! Say! JUMP… Why are you looking at me like I speak Chinese?!”

Keito stared at me like he did not understand a word, and it made me feel even more frustrated. 

“Say something!” I demanded. “What the heck is happening here?!”

Keito was silent for another moment, before he murmured: “Excuse my impoliteness, Yamada-Gocho, but I really think you should lay down. I think you are developing a fever.”

“I am NOT sick!” I yelled. “I just want you to tell me what the heck is going on here! I don’t have time for this bullshit, I have a single and a musical and-“

But Keito continued looking at me like I had lost my mind, and I could not take it. So with a loud groan, I turned on my heels, leaving the room. 

I roamed the corridor until I found the next door outside, almost bumping into Kei on the way out. I was not going to pay much attention to him, not in the mood to talk to anyone, but Kei called after me when he saw that I was heading outside, asking: “Yamada-Gocho, where are you going?”

“Out” I only murmured curtly. “I need some fresh air.”

“What do you mean, ‘out’?!” he continued in confusion. “We are in war, you can’t just go out alone! You could meet Nakayama or whoever…”

“I don’t care, okay?!” I groaned, firm on ignoring him. Maybe it would be good if I met Yuma, because he could maybe tell me what the heck was going on here, and why everyone was talking about him like he was the devil himself. 

But Kei did not let my attitude scare him away – instead, he followed after me, not leaving me out of his sight.

“What are you doing?!” I snapped at him when I had found the gate out of the compound, encountering woods ahead of me. “I told you I wanted to be alone!”

“My honor does not allow me to let my Gocho go out alone in times of war” Kei replied politely, but firmly. “If you want to leave the grounds, fine, but I’ll accompany you.”

“Oh, what the heck?!” I cursed. “You watched too many Samurai movies, you know that?!”

Kei only blinked at me, but did not make any moves to leave me alone. Frustrated, I turned around again, making my way out into the woods, Kei on my heels. At first, I tried to shake him off, but he did not let me. Then, I decided to ignore him, just wandering deeper into the labyrinth of trees in front of me, not caring if I would find my way back again or not.

Because what was this that I had woken up to? I did not know anyways. 

After a while, I stumbled over a tree root on the floor, and Kei caught up to me, helping me up.

“Are you okay, Yamada-Gocho?” he asked worriedly.

“No!” I called angrily, shaking his hand off. “Nothing is okay! What is this bullshit here?! What is all of this supposed to mean?!” Kei opened his mouth, probably to ask what I was talking about, or if I was developing a fever, like Keito had, but I continued, a little desperate by now: “What is all of this about war?! We’re living in a time of peace, there is no war in Japan! We sing about it, we mention it in musicals and movies and dramas, but there is no actual war anymore!”

Kei was only gaping at me now, apparently having lost the ability to speak at my words.

“Say something!” I demanded angrily. “What the hell is going on here?! I-“

Then, everything happened too fast for me to comprehend. Kei reacted, having his hand on his sword faster than I could end the sentence, but too slow to prevent another blade being directed against me. 

I blinked, as I spotted the shining metal at my throat, and I felt a hand knotting in my hair, holding my head immobile. I fought against it, managing to tilt my head a little to be able to look at my attackers face.

I was met with familiar brown eyes, as cold and emotionless as I had never seen them before.

“Yuma” I choked in surprise. 

I saw his lip twitch in a bitter smile.

“What, Yamada, are we being emotional today? The times when it was okay to call me that are long over.”

I saw Kei, standing a feet away from us, hand on his sword but else keeping immobile, staring in shock. Behind Yuma, I could make out another familiar figure, short and seeming visibly uncomfortable in the situation - Chinen Yuri. 

He was also the one who spoke up next.

“Stop!” he called, his wide eyes fixed on Yuma’s back. “We are not here to fight. We have a mission from the Daisho, remember?”

“But if they run so willingly into our arms…” Yuma murmured, his eyes still fixed on me.

“It’s not upon us to decide the time for a fight” Chinen said firmly.   
  
Yuma clicked his tongue in annoyance, before murmuring, now to me again: “Be happy my men have more sense for duty than those of your side will ever have, Yamada, or you’d be dead now.”

With that, he let go of my hair, and redrew his sword. I stared at him, still stunned.

“Next time we meet, I won’t be as mild” he warned, retreating. Then he turned, nodding at Chinen, before both of them continued their way into a different direction than us. I panicked as I saw them leave.

“YUMA!” I called loudly, wanting to run after them, but Kei’s hand was on my wrist in a matter of seconds, holding me back. 

“Have you lost your mind?!” he hissed. “He will kill you!”

I stared after the two of them, but there was no reaction from Yuma. Only Chinen turned his head to look back for a moment, but I could not read the emotion in his face before they disappeared from my sight.

The encounter with them had shocked me so much that I let Kei bring me back without another protest. I figured that I was actually glad that he had followed me, in the end – I would have never found my way back without him, not knowing the woods as well as he did. 

Kei demanded for me to lie down, thinking that I was running a fever, like Keito before. He led me through the corridors hastily, until I found myself back in the same room I had come from originally, with Keito sitting on the bench, his foot still in the water, looking at me and Kei with big eyes. 

“Did something happen?” he asked worriedly, immediately catching eyes with Kei. Maybe I looked too pale to be taken as full right now. 

“I think he is coming down with something” Kei said quietly, nodding to me. “Is Taguchi-Sensei out? Can you take care of him, then? I need to go to Kamenashi-Daisho and report. We met Nakayama and Chinen.”

“Really?!” Keito called, alarmed. “What did they do?!”

“Luckily, nothing” Kei sighed. “It seemed they were busy. But still…”

“I understand” Keito nodded, standing despite his hurt foot. “Please go, I will take care of everything.”

“Thank you” Kei said, bowing slightly before leaving the room again, closing the door behind him. 

Keito turned to the shelves (I only recognized now that this room was apparently supposed to be some kind of pre-modern infirmary), but before he could get hold of any medication, I murmured: “Sit down again, I am fine.”

Keito looked at me unsurely, but I just sat down next to him on the bench, staring into space. After a moment, Keito sat again, his eyes still on my face.

“Are you really alright?” he said unsurely.

“No” I murmured, letting out a deep sigh before looking back up into his eyes. I had always liked Keito’s eyes – they were dark and warm, and could never hide anything he was thinking, even if I could not always properly read it. Right now, though, I could – I could see that he was worried, in that honest way of his, and it made me want to spill out all of my troubles to him, even if he would think me crazy, the way everyone did.

“Keito, what is happening here?” I whispered quietly, longing for an answer.

First, Keito seemed perplexed, before he murmured: “You have been asking that before, but I don’t know what you mean.”

“Only a while ago, we have been rehearsing Johnny’s World” I murmured. “And suddenly, we are here, and everyone is talking about war, and Yuma wants to kill me… I don’t get it. What is happening here?”

Keito seemed as confused as me at my words. 

“I’m sorry, but I have no idea what you are talking about, Yamada-Gocho” he said helplessly.

“Don’t call me that” I whispered automatically.

“What?” he murmured, blinking. 

“This Gocho-something” I frowned. “Call me Ryosuke, or Yama-Chan… Like you used to.”

“H-how could I?” Keito stuttered, obviously perplex. “My rank does not allow me to.”

“What rank?!” I groaned desperately. “We are friends, right?!”

“B-but, you are-“

I did not let him finish his sentence. Out of an instinct I reached for his hand, clinging to it.

Keito stopped talking, staring at my hand as if in some kind of trance. Then, he looked back up into my eyes, still perplex.

“Please, Keito” I whispered. “Help me. Make it all right again.”

Keito did not answer, probably not knowing what to say, and being overwhelmed by my fear and my desperation, I just pulled him closer, burying my face in his shoulder. 

He stayed still, and I clung to him firmly, thinking childishly that maybe, if I just did not let go of him, it would all go away again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are to me like strawberries to Ryosuke, so please don't forget to leave one :D


	7. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!   
> New chapter, this time Jesse's POV. The stories will start blurring into each other from now on though.   
> Anyways, not gonna talk much - hope you'll like it!

Jesse’s POV

„What in the name of god is wrong with you?!“ Yugo snarled at me as I followed him through the corridors of the old samurai residence, looking back and forth for anything familiar. “You are not yourself today!” 

“I don’t feel like myself, either” I murmured, more to myself than to him, but he caught it anyways, frowning at me. 

“I don’t know what it is that is going on with you, but you should quickly gather yourself” he murmured, giving me a pointed look. “It is our troop’s turn to patrol the borders today. And you know that if we meet Nakajima and his men, one mistake can mean death.”

I kept quiet, not quite daring to speak up. I still had no clue what was going on here, but in the last hour, I had been yelled at by Kikuchi 4 times (every time in a wrong name. I don’t know if they seriously confused me with Inoo Kei or what that was about… I mean, we _were_ distant cousins, but I had never thought that we looked _that_ similar), thrown to the floor by Yugo in what was obviously supposed to be some kind of fighting practice 7 times, and been stared at by Matsushima Sou and Totsuka Shota like I had some disease. Besides nobody knowing my name, everyone talked like they had come straight out of some kind of samurai movie, and Kikuchi had gone on and on about killing “this Nakajima bastard”, which I found very unsettling no matter which Nakajima he meant. 

Like I said, I did not have the slightest clue what was going on to, but for now, I had come to the decision that all of this was a dream. A dream which I would wake up from soon, hopefully, and then I would be in a hospital bed and Hokuto would sit at my side and yell at me for not paying proper attention on stage.

Still, I seriously wondered what kind of nonsense my subconscious mind was coming up with today, or why it all felt so _real_. Because usually, my dreams were blurry and boring. This was complete news. 

My thoughts were interrupted by Yugo opening the door to a small tatami room, containing a line of 4 neatly folded futons and a few linen bags scattered upon it. Yugo went for the outer right one immediately, emptying the bag onto the futon, apparently searching for something. 

I stood there in the door, watching him with a frown until he looked up at me. 

“What are you standing there wasting your time?!” he scoffed. “Kikuchi-gocho will await us in 10 minutes. We should get ready quickly.”

I nodded carefully, eyeing the other 3 bags wearily. In the end, I chose the one next to Yugo’s, figuring it sensible that I would choose the place next to him. But I could not even as much as lift the bag into my hands as Yugo had already slapped my fingers. 

“Don’t touch Matsushima-dono’s things!” he hissed. “Seriously, are you ill?! Your place is the one on the left!”

“Oh, sorry” I murmured, shaking my hand, my fingers still hurting where Yugo had hit me before moving to the other side of the room. I eyed the bag in front of me curiously for a moment before opening the knot and shaking the contents into my hand. 

There was not much inside. I saw a few coins, and an Omamori. A letter with a text so calligraphed that I had no idea how to read it. Something that looked like a couple of dried fruits. And a small glass ball. 

I shot a secret look over to Yugo, seeing that he stuffed a similar looking paper carefully into the sleeve of his Kimono before closing his bag again. 

“Come on” he nodded to me. “Take your identification documents and let us go!”

I nodded, quickly taking the papers and stuffing the other things into the bag hastily. I dropped the glass ball in the process, only noticing it when Yugo stood to pick it up. 

“You’re still keeping this?” he frowned, eyeing it with a thoughtful look. 

“… Yes?” I answered unsurely, putting my things down and looking at him. “Why shouldn’t I?”

“It is not good to be too attached to memories we need to forget” Yugo sighed, lying the glass ball down in front of me tenderly. “It is dangerous to be led by such emotions in our situation.”

I did not answer, not understanding what he was trying to tell me, but Yugo did not wait for me to reply, standing up quickly and turning for the door. I stuffed the ball and the papers quickly into the sleeve of my Kimono before following him. 

Yugo led me through another set of corridors until finally, we made our way outside of the building. Kikuchi was already waiting with Matsushima-Kun and Totsuka, eyeing us with a look of displeasure.

“You took long” he commented, and Yugo bowed, calling: “My apologies, Gocho!” I quickly bowed down, too, but kept from saying anything. 

Kikuchi sighed, shaking his head before turning to leave. 

“After me, we need to hurry. Matsumoto-gocho will already be waiting for us” He took a few steps, Matsushima-Kun and Totsuka in his shadow, before throwing me a look over the shoulder, his eyes narrowing. “And get your act together, Inoo!” he threatened. “I will not forgive you if you endanger the whole troop with your carelessness!”

I nodded, and Yugo threw me an impatient look before following after the others. 

We walked along some forest paths for at least 20 minutes, none of us speaking, and I was already about to ask Yugo where we were going when finally, a group of 4 people came into view. The first one I recognized quickly – he was wearing a slightly different Kimono than the rest of them, not unlike Kikuchi, and looking into our direction, even with the traditional hairstyle easy to recognize from afar because of his remarkable features: Matsumoto Jun. Behind him stood Ohno Satoshi, apparently engaged in a discussion with someone I recognized as Nozawa Yuki. Opposite of them, sitting lazily on a stone and biting into an apple, was Ninomiya Kazunari. 

Matsumoto-Senpai nodded at Kikuchi as soon as we came closer, whistling once. It took only a few seconds until Sakurai Sho appeared between the bushes, joining the group.

“The view is clear, Gocho” he reported. “We can leave.”

“Good” Matsumoto-Senpai nodded. “It’s been a quiet day, almost boring. You shouldn’t have any problems.” 

“Thanks” Kikuchi bowed, and the other group scrambled up to leave. 

“How is your younger one doing?” Matsumoto-Senpai asked conversationally as he passed Kikuchi. “Is he adjusting to the team?”

“Matsushima is usable” he sighed. “But I could do without Inoo. Don’t you want to trade him against Nozawa-dono?”

“Not a chance” he laughed, and I saw Nozawa grinning behind him. “I educated him myself. It’s your job to make your men worth something, Kikuchi-gocho.”

“You know I never have much patience with them” he sighed, throwing a sour look towards me over his shoulder. 

“Well, if nothing helps hand him over to Yokoyama-gocho for a week. He managed to turn everyone into a men until now.”

Kikuchi chuckled and waved at Matsumoto-Senpai, who nodded as he left, his troop close behind him. It was then, that Kikuchi turned to us again. 

“Alright, we’ll split into groups” he nodded. “Kouchi is coming with me to the south, Totsuka is going with Inoo to the north. Matsushima, you will stay here. If everything is clear, we will meet again here.”

Everyone nodded, and Yugo left my side to follow Kikuchi as he trotted off. Totsuka eyed me with a look of annoyance. 

“Let’s go” he murmured finally, taking off into the opposite direction Yugo and Kikuchi had just disappeared to. I kept quiet as I followed him.

Totsuka seemed to know the way, and did not seem to need my input to anything, and I was glad about that. I had already noticed that no one in this troop seemed to have much confidence in me, and maybe, that was a good thing, because it meant that nobody expected much in my current confused state. 

I felt tired of this dream already – usually, I just flowed through my dreams, never getting deeply emotionally attached, and if I did, I forgot about them quickly. But here, the pressure of the people around me and the confusion about what was going on was incredibly exhausting. 

I blinked when I thought to have heard something moving behind me, standing to look around frantically, but quickly spotting that the noise I had heard had only been a rabbit fleeing through the bushes.

I turned back, only to find that Totsuka was gone. 

“Damn!” I muttered, hurrying quickly into the direction I thought he must have disappeared to.

But when I had still not caught up with him about 5 minutes later, I realized that I had not only lost him, but also all orientation. 

“Shit shit shit!” I groaned, looking around frantically. “I hate this. It’s enough. I want to wake up already.”

In a last desperate try to find my way back, I took a turn to the left, keeping my eyes open for anything I could recognize, but since I had never been good with forests and anything that was not a city, everything looked the same to me. 

I yelped as I stumbled over a root, crashing onto the floor painfully.

“Great” I murmured to myself as soon as I had caught my breath, not even bothering to scramble myself up from the ground, for now.

Seriously, this whole thing was not funny anymore. If I had not known better, I would have believed that this was not a dream anymore, but that couldn’t be, could it? One minute, I had fallen off stage, and the next moment, I was here. It was the only logical solution that I was dreaming. And I had never been a big believer of anything supernatural. 

It was then, that I heard movement around me. Quickly, I looked up, trying to get a view of what was going on, but then, I felt a foot in my back, holding me down forcefully.

“What are you doing in our territory, Inoo?!” a very familiar voice snapped, and I gasped, my eyes suddenly becoming wide. “Answer!”

“Hokuto!” I murmured, trying to turn my head to get a look of him, but before I could even move, he had a strong grip of my neck. 

“What are you doing here?!” he repeated pointedly. 

“I – I got lost!” I said breathlessly, still trying to struggle against his grip. “Totsuka was suddenly gone and I was searching for him and-“

“You expect me to believe that?!” Hokuto groaned, pushing my face so deeply into the hard ground that it hurt. “How stupid do you think I am?! Where are your men?! What are you planning?!”

“Nothing, I swear!” I called desperately. “Hokuto, what is going on here?! I-“

“You only speak to answer my questions!” Hokuto yelled and I froze when I felt a sharp blade in my back. “I swear, I have no reservations to kill you! I am not going to let your Gocho kill mine! Only over my dead body! Understood?!”

I kept quiet, not even daring to breathe with Hokuto’s sword directed against me. There was a moment of silence, before Hokuto let go and took a step away from me, the blade still held against me as a threat. 

“Hand over your Katana” he demanded. “Fast!”

My hands were shaking as I fumbled a little to find the cover of the sword fixed at my Obi. Carefully, I removed it before throwing it to the ground next to me. Hokuto picked it up quickly, putting his own sword away before directing my blade against me.

“Get up!” he demanded. “I’m bringing you to Nakajima-gocho. He will decide what to do with you.”

Carefully, I moved to my knees, having difficulties standing with the way my whole body was shaking. When I finally managed to get to my feet, I turned around to look at Hokuto for the first time.

It was unsettling, to see Hokuto’s usually so affectionate eyes staring back at me with distrust and hate. With that kind of expression, and the whole different styling and clothing, he seemed as far away from me as never before, like a completely different person, and not my boyfriend. 

Whatever this was, a dream or a strange and messed-up reality – the knowledge that I did not have Hokuto at my side at the moment hit me more than anything else. 

“Move” Hokuto hissed, nodding for me to follow the path I had originally tried to take. I balled my fists as I did what he said, his sword still in my back as a constant threat.

Hokuto did only speak to give me directions; other than that, we stayed completely silent. There were a thousand questions I would have liked to throw at him, a thousand things I would have liked to say or do, above all to just hug him and hold him close, just to reassure myself that I still could. But I did not dare to even crane my neck to look at him, scared of what would happen if I did. 

It didn’t take long until we reached another residence, not unlike the one I had left a while ago. Out in front of it, I recognized Sato Shori moving about, apparently hanging up wet clothing. He froze when he took note of us.

“Sato-dono, go get Nakajima-gocho, quickly!” Hokuto called, grabbing my arm harshly to stop me from walking. “I found this one in our territory! We don’t know if Kikuchi is not out there somewhere as well!”

“Understood!” Shori-Kun nodded before hurrying off into the house. 

“I told you that I’m alone” I murmured quietly to Hokuto. “I got lost. The others don’t even know that I’m here.”

“And I’m supposed to believe that?!” Hokuto scoffed. 

I gulped against the lump in my throat. 

It was then, that I heard the loud voice of Nakajima Kento, and quick footsteps.

“What do you mean, Hokuto found Inoo?! Inoo Kei?! And why are you making such a fuss out of-“

It was then, that he turned around the corner, his eyes falling on me. He seemed disheveled, his long black hair sticking in directions it was surely not supposed to stick, and his Kimono loose and messy. His eyes went wide when our gazes met.

“Jesse?!” he asked incredulous.

My heart skipped a beat. 

“You know my name?!” I murmured breathlessly.

“Of course I do!” he frowned. “I-“ He cut himself off, realization dawning onto his face. “Jesse, how is my band called?!”

“Sexy Zone!” I called excitedly. “So, you as well?!”

“FINALLY!” Nakajima called, approaching me in quick steps. “I already thought I was going crazy! Jesse, what is happening here?!”

“I don’t know! I thought I was dreaming!” I called. 

Nakajima was about to reach out to me when suddenly, Hokuto stepped in between us, sword held into the air threateningly.

“What is going on here?!” he demanded in a loud voice. 

Nakajima and I met eyes, and he seemed just as much at a loss what to do as me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm feeding of comments, so if you'd be so kind... ;)


	8. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!  
> New update, this time Chinen's and Fujigaya's POV. Not gonna talk much! Enjoy!

Chinen’s POV

After I had followed Yuma all the way back through the forest (I would have never found my way back when the sun started to set and the paths were becoming dark and shady), and I had let the events of the past hour repeated in my head again and again, I had come to one conclusion.

All of this had to be real. 

I had no idea how I had gotten here, but somehow, some time portal must have opened during our rehearsals at the imperial theatre, taking me and Ryosuke and who knows who else at least 500 years back in time. 

Because fantasy and all in honor, but I was pretty sure I could not dream anything like this together. Not with the way Ryosuke had behaved earlier. My subconscious mind had never been that creative, and I doubted that it had suddenly started now. 

The realization that I had found myself in a new strange reality made me feel a little weak in the knees, because, as far as I had taken note of it until now, it was anything but a nice reality. Yuma was behaving positively scary, and apparently we were at war with Ryosuke and Inoo-Chan’s and who knows who else’s side, and I was seriously not ready to get into any battles with any of my friends. No freaking way. 

But first thing first, I had to talk to Ryosuke somehow. I had no idea how, but somehow, I had to sneak off and find him, because I had a feeling that Ryosuke could end up in trouble with the way he had been behaving earlier. 

Ryosuke was a dedicated worker, but to be honest, he had never been good with stress situations, and at the moment, he seemed to positively go insane, and I had to somehow go and safe him from himself. But how? If Yuma found out I was going out to meet him, he would probably see it as betrayal and have my head. I had to choose my timing wisely.

I had still not come to a conclusion when we finally reached the residence we had left earlier this day. I was relieved, hoping that Yuma would now finally let me off the hook to go meet whoever he needed to give Sanada’s report to, when suddenly, we heard a loud angry snarl from inside the corridors.

“NAKAJIMA IS NOW ATTACKING MY MEN WITHOUT ANY REASONS, AND YOU TELL ME TO STAY QUIET?!”

Yuma shot a questioning look at me before quickly hurrying into the building, searching for the source of the uproar. I followed him, and soon, we encountered a group of familiar faces standing in the hallway and discussing loudly. 

The one who was shouting the loudest was easy to recognize as Kikuchi Fuma, his face red as his eyes were directed on Imai Tsubasa, who seemed to be more than a little uncomfortable in his skin. Next to him I saw Nishikido Ryo, who had also directed his gaze at Tsubasa-Senpai in obvious distaste. Not far from him stood Yokoyama Yu, Akanishi Jin and Matsumoto Jun, discussing in hushed voices among themselves. It was Matsumoto-Senpai who turned first to acknowledge our presence.

“Nakayama-gocho” he greeted , waving us over to him. “Inoo-dono has disappeared throughout the patrol of Kikuchi’s troop.”

“WHAT?!” Yuma asked in shock, and I blinked, remembering Inoo-Chan near Ryosuke during our earlier confrontation. I thought he was part of Ryosuke’s troop, so how…?

“We don’t even know if Nakajima-gocho or anyone of Higashi no Chu attacked Inoo-dono!” Tsubasa-Senpai said loudly, having difficulties to make himself heard between all the talking and screaming. 

“What? Are you suggesting my men are running off by themselves?!” Fuma-Kun called angrily. 

“Well, you said yourself that Inoo-dono has not been the best fighter” Matsumoto-Senpai shrugged, his expression deliberating. “Maybe he fled because he could not deal with the pressure of war…?”

“Or, I mean, has anyone ever considered the possibility of him being a spy?” Akanishi-Senpai said loudly, looking into the round. “It is possible!”

“Inoo?!” Yokoyama-Senpai scoffed, laughing. “Come on, I bet Kamenashi would send someone better.”

“Maybe that was the trick!” Akanishi-Senpai argued, and they drifted off into a discussion. Fuma-Kun just rolled his eyes and turned back to Nishikido-Senpai and Tsubasa-Senpai. 

“This is nonsense! Even Inoo would not just run off like this! He is too much of a coward for that! I know my men, and I know that it was Nakajima who attacked him!”

“In all respect, Kikuchi-dono, but for you, _everything_ is a complot from Nakajima-gocho!” Tsubasa-Senpai said firmly. “I know, given your history, you have a different opinion of him, but if you ask me, he has never been the kind of Gocho to run irrational attacks and provocations like this. I think-“

“Will you stop with your diplomatics?!” Nishikido-Senpai groaned, turning to him. “I hate to bring it to you, but we are in war! Not everyone plays it fair and square in war! Inoo was probably an easy victim for Nakajima, that is all!”

“It is because we always attack and assume the worst in everyone that this whole war even started!” Tsubasa-Senpai called loudly. “So I suggest that we all calm down and-“

“I don’t want to calm down!” Fuma-Kun yelled. “I do not care what you think you know about Nakajima! There is no one who knows him better than me, I know what I am talking about, for god’s sake! He is good at bluffing! And now one of my men is most probably dead or imprisoned and I want to see the responsible one dead!”

“I will back you up if you decide to slaughter Nakajima tomorrow” Yokoyama-Senpai threw in with a smile. “I’ve been waiting for ages to finally get this war started. It’s time for some action!”

“We cannot act without the consent of the Daimyo!” Nishikido-Senpai said finally, making everyone else fall silent. “So I suggest that we all end this discussion for tonight so that Imai-Shomyo and I can request a meeting with him. He will decide what to do.”

Fuma-Kun clicked with his tongue before turning his back on everyone, storming down the corridor. Yokoyama-Senpai looked at Akanishi-Senpai, pouting as if Christmas had just been canceled, and Akanishi-Senpai laughed. 

Matsumoto-Senpai turned to Yuma again, asking conversationally: “So, did you get the report from Sanada-dono?”

“Yes” Yuma nodded, getting the paper roll out of his sleeve and handing it over to Nishikido-Senpai. 

“Thank you” Nishikido-Senpai sighed, eyeing the roll in his hands wearily. “I hope there is anything useful in there, so that I can finally move the Daimyo to give us permission for attack. All this defensiveness had definitely going on too long. Now even men of us are disappearing…”

Tsubasa-Senpai looked at him disapprovingly before snatching the roll away from him, turning to walk into the direction Fuma-Kun has disappeared to. Nishikido-Senpai rolled his eyes. 

“Politics” he groaned. “If we only relied on politics, nothing would move forward!”

“You just can’t discuss with the people from Higashi no Chu!” Akanishi-Senpai said darkly. “I was one of them once, I know what I’m talking about!”

“Yeah, I want to see Imai-Shomyo trying to lead a discussion with Ueda once, then we can talk on eye level” Nishikido-Senpai said darkly before looking around with a frown. “Anyways, where is Fujigaya-gocho?! I’ve not seen him all day! Where is he hiding again?!”

“I heard that his men called Aiba-Sensei earlier” Yokoyama-Senpai shrugged. “Maybe he has officially gone insane. Took him long enough.”

Akanishi-Senpai laughed, and Yuma caught my eye, nodding to me before retreating from the troop. We were silent until the others were out of hearing distance, and then, Yuma turned to me.

“So, you heard what they were talking about” he said in a low voice. “I am sure Imai-Shomyo will do his best to avoid a battle, but we can never be sure. Prepare yourself for things to turn serious soon.”

I nodded slowly, my heartbeat droning loudly in my ears. 

“You are my best man, Chinen-dono” he nodded.”I trust you, and I am counting on your full support.”

“Of course” I murmured, and Yuma nodded, bowing once. 

“Goodnight, Chinen-dono” he said quietly before retreating through a door. I stared after him for a moment, unsure what to do now or where to go, until I saw another figure approaching me through the corridor. 

I was almost relieved as I recognized the ever-smiling face of Arioka Daiki.

“Chinen-dono” he nodded once in a good natured manner. “You are back? I assume everything went without incidences?”

“Yes” I murmured, not sure if I wanted to discuss today’s happenings with anyone just now, and how much I was even supposed to tell Daiki and in which relation we were, but Daiki did not prod, and I was relieved about that. 

Instead, he just opened the door to my left, looking at me.

“You are coming?” he asked. “We have dinner.”

I nodded, even through my confusion the promise of food sounding like heaven, and when I followed Daiki through the door, I found myself in a small tatami room with 4 spread futons, and two other people chatting loudly in a corner, munching away on their bowls of rice – Yaotome Hikaru and Nakajima Yuto. 

“Oh, Chinen-dono, you’re back!” Hikaru called with a smile, waving at me, and Yuto held out a bowl of rice to me. “Otsukaresama!”

“Otsukaresama” I nodded, taking the bowl, feeling an inexplicable warmth at the familiar atmosphere. Because even if we were in the past, and even if Hikaru, Daiki and Yuto looked like they had walked straight out of a Taiga drama, they were still the same persons, and some things never seemed to change, no matter which time or place, and for now, I was just thankful for that. 

Daiki squeezed in next to Hikaru, taking his own bowl of rice and joining in on their discussion, and I carefully sat down on one of the neatly spread futons, eyeing my own bowl of rice.

It was when I sat down that I noticed that there was something stuffed neatly under the futon – I fumbled a little before my fingers encountered a thin book. 

I lifted it, frowning at it for a moment, before I saw my name scrabbled into a corner. I glanced at the others once, but no one was paying any attention to me, so I opened the book carefully, flipping through the pages. 

It was then, that I realized that I was holding my own diary in my hands.

***

Taisuke’s POV

The sun was slowly starting to set, and looking out over the unknown moonlit landscape in front of me, I was sure of 2 things: Nobunaga no Chef was real and I wanted to strangle Tamamori. 

Okay, maybe not Nobunaga no Chef, really, because as little as I had watched from it when I had been home and had switched through the channels on a few bored evenings, I could not remember _that many Johnnys_ running around in there, and Tamamori and Inagaki Goro had been about the only ones I had _not_ seen today (and Wataru, which was driving me insane because I had no one to talk to), but yeah, obviously, the whole time traveling thing had been true, after all. 

Or at least, that was the only explanation that made sense to me at the moment, apart from me being insane, and I was more inclined to the first one. 

Though this did not mean it had been any fun to run around all day finding out what mess I had somehow gotten myself into. First, after Nikaido and Senga had dropped me off at what was apparently _my_ room, I had tried to sleep, thinking all of this was a dream and I would wake up once I tried to ignore it, but then, not even an hour later, they had come bursting back through the door with an Edo Version of Aiba Masaki in tow. 

Apparently, in this reality, Aiba was some kind of doctor, and Senpai or not, Last Hope or not, I was not ready to entrust my mental or physical health to someone who had spent half of his career blowing up things on TV. So I had quickly tried to brush him off, saying that I had merely been a little exhausted and was fine now. 

Aiba had agreed to leave me in peace reluctantly, and I had spent the rest of the day carefully asking me through with Nikaido and Senga, letting them tell me whatever I could find out about the reality I had landed in.

Which was not much, because with the way they had still looked at me doubtfully after every question I had asked, I could not prod too much without them sending me straight back to “Aiba-Sensei”, but at least, I could find out a few things. 

Apparently, I was some kind of Samurai troop leader, which was why everyone addressed me with “Gocho”. The members of my troop were Nikaido, Senga, Yasui and Jinguji, who had apparently just joined the army and was still trained by me. 

Our Daimyo seemed to be one of the Domotos (I had not quite been able to find out which one), and apparently, we were at war with some other clan, which was led by the other one (“his brother”, as Nikaido had voiced it). The Shomyo, of which I had no clue what he was actually _doing_ but he seemed to be someone important, was Imai Tsubasa, and Yasui had an hour ago come running to me to tell me that he wanted to talk to me. 

Which was why I was here now, in some room inside this way too big and way too confusing residence, looking out of the open sliding door around the wide landscape outside, waiting for Tsubasa-Kun and hoping that he would be able to give me any more clues about what was going on here and how I was able to get back to the future. 

Because as adventurous as this whole thing here was, it was slightly scaring me. Everyone was being really serious and I don’t think I saw Senga and Nikaido laugh once throughout the whole day and that was just _wrong._ I still had no clue where Wataru was, and in my confused state, I even managed to miss Kitayama. It made me wish that I had paid more attention during Nobunaga no Chef, because it would be nice to know how Tamamori had been able to get to the present (if he had, at all, who knew). Or that I would at least run _into_ Tamamori now so I could beat some answers out of him. 

I almost jumped when the sliding door across from me suddenly slid open, revealing none other than the Edo-style Imai Tsubasa. He bowed at me in greeting, and I carefully returned the gesture before he stepped into the room, sliding the door shut behind him.

“Fujigaya-gocho” he nodded. “I hope you are quite well again. I heard that your men had to call Aiba-Sensei today.”

“I was just a little exhausted” I protested quickly. “Nothing to worry about.”

“That’s good” he said with a small smile. “I have enough to worry about at the moment.”

I was not sure what to answer to that, but he did not seem to expect an answer as he kneeled down across from me with a small smile, watching me wearily. 

“We got report from Sanada-dono today, and I wanted to talk to you before Nishikido-Daisho does. You know how he often likes to answer a crisis with violence instead of diplomacy.” With a short moment of silence, he added ruefully: “But so does the Daimyo too, sadly. Still, I have not given up hope that we can end this senseless war without a battle. So I am counting on your cooperation, Fujigaya-gocho.”

I nodded automatically, and Tsubasa-kun seemed to be reassured by that. It made me wonder if usually, he was met with deaf ears once he started talking about his point of view. 

“So, naturally, since Sanada-dono is a spy in Ueda-gocho’s troop, most of the information in his report relates to Ueda-gocho himself, and Kamenashi-daisho, and we both know that there is no sense in talking to Akanishi-gocho and Nishikido-daisho rationally about this matter” he murmured, shaking his head. “But there is also some information that concerns you, especially. And of course, we are talking about Kitayama-gocho here.”

My heartbeat sped up a little at the sound of Kitayama’s name, indicating that I would hopefully get some answers, at last.

“It seems like Kitayama-gocho is preparing an attack on you” he continued finally, meeting my eyes as they became wide with the realization of what he was telling me. “He is set on killing you rather sooner than later, even against the approval of his Daimyo, Shomyo or Daisho.”

“He wants to kill me?!” I brought out breathlessly, and Tsubasa-kun raised an eyebrow at me.

“I didn’t think this was news for you” he replied. “Ever since the death of Miyata-dono and Yokoo-dono, he has been blaming you, has he not?”

I only stared at him, the shock stunning me immobile. Watta and Miyata were _dead_?! They had to be kidding me. No. That couldn’t be true. 

“Of course, I know that none of it was your fault” he said gently. “You were tricked by Kimura-Daisho’s troop. His rebellion against the Shogun is nothing any of us has ever been faced with, and we could have not asked of you to be able to deal with it. But it seems like Kitayama needs a culprit for it, and he chose you, I am afraid.”

I was still unable to answer, because all that was going through my head was that _no_ , Wataru and Miyata could not be dead and what was this messed up reality I had stumbled into and how did I get out of here again, when Tsubasa-kun’s expression turned yet softer and his voice comforting as he continued: “I know you and Kitayama-gocho used to be very close before this incident. Maybe not openly, but you had a trust in one another that is hard to find in times like these, even after the situation began to turn critically. This is why I wish to apply to both your caution and your good sense – we don’t want any more senseless victims, neither on their side, nor on ours. Please always keep that in mind.”

I nodded absentmindedly, because that was the only answer I felt able to _without_ starting to scream or bursting into tears, and it seemed to be enough for Tsubasa-Kun.

“On a more careful note” he said finally, his frown turning more pronounced. “From what Sanada-dono has been reporting, they seem to have a spy in our troop as well. He could up till now not find out the name, but for now, please keep your eyes open and be careful to whom you talk. I think your troop should be safe – I have my suspicions in Akanishi-gocho’s troop – but you never know.”

I nodded again, and Tsubasa-Kun sighed as he stood up again, turning for the door. 

“I am sorry to rush, but I need to talk to Kikuchi-gocho as well” he said. “Apparently, Inoo-dono has not returned from their patrol today, and he is out of his mind about it. I still can’t imagine that Nakajima-gocho would harm him without a reason, but… You know how Kikuchi-gocho becomes when the subject turns to Nakajima-gocho. I will have to try to talk Kikuchi-dono down, or he and Nishikido-Daisho will start a battle tomorrow morning first thing.”

I continued staring after Tsubasa-Kun as he opened the sliding door again, bowing once more into my direction before leaving the room and closing the door behind him. I still stared at the door after he was long gone, trying to understand what the fuck was happening here.

Kitayama trying to kill me. Wataru and Miyata dead. 

“Stop fucking with me” I whispered to myself, balling my shaking hand into a fist. “This is not funny anymore!”

I wanted to talk to Wataru. He had always been the one I had run to when things had gotten intense and too much for me to still make sense out of it. I was hopeless at figuring things out without him. 

And as irrational as it sounded, I wanted to see Kitayama. Because as annoying as he was, as much as I wanted to strangle him for his big mouth sometimes – when it mattered, he was always there. I had always been able to rely on him, and the thought that now he hated me and wanted to kill me was something I could not stand.

My sight became blurry with the tears I tried desperately to hold in, and crawled into a ball in the position I was in, hugging my knees to my chest. 

I only looked up when the door opened, and Yasui came into the room, freezing in his movements as he took in my expression.

“Fujigaya-gocho!” he called in shock, his eyes wide as he hurried over to me. “Has anything happened? Are you alright?”

“Nothing is alright” I whispered, squishing my face back against my knees. “Everything is a mess and I don’t want to live in this world. I want to go _home_.”

There was a moment of silence, before Yasui asked hesitantly: “Shall I go get someone? Aiba-Sensei? Senga-dono? Nikaido-dono? Imai-Shom-“

“Can you just stay here and not ask any questions?” I brought out finally, taking a deep breath before looking up at him. “That would be a big help.”

Yasui nodded with a frown, though he seemed a little helpless, but for now, he was better than no one around at all. Even if I could not confide in him, even if I could not ask him for help… At least, he was _here_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone out there reading this? If so, please drop a comment, it would make my day :D


	9. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Back with a new chapter, this time Ryosuke's POV. Not gonna talk much - hope you will like it!

Ryosuke’s POV

It took a minute or two, until Keito finally moved to hug me back. It gave me a tiny bit of security that felt like a warm breeze in my raging storm of confusion.

“Yamada-Gocho?” He whispered tentatively.

“Ryosuke” I whispered, reminding him, and I felt Keito gulp, before he repeated: “Ryosuke?” 

I just nodded. He opened his mouth again to say something, but froze when footsteps were to be heard outside. Quickly, he let go of me, leaving me staring at him bewilderedly as the door opened. 

In came Taguchi Junnosuke, his eyes zeroing in on me immediately, as he asked with a sigh: “I met Inoo-Dono in the corridor, and he told me that you are not feeling well, Yamada-Gocho… You did not by any chance share your food with Nakajima-gocho again, did you?”

I only blinked, looking up at him, but before I could even answer, he had already crossed the distance between us, feeling my forehead and continuing: “You don’t seem to be having a fever either, though… Maybe you should just lie down. This war is having us all at the edge, after all. Sleep is the best medicine. Will you accompany him to his room, Okamoto-Dono?”

I flashed another look at Keito, who was slightly flushed, his expression confused.

“Yes” he brought out finally, standing up. “I will do that.”

His eyes met mine, and besides the obvious confusion and worry, I saw something else in them, something that reminded me of the Keito of the present and that one emotion that I could never quite put my finger on, frustrating me to no end.

I had no time to further think about it, though, as Keito reached out a hand to help me up, insisting on bringing me to my room.

I followed him impatiently, eager to catch him alone again. I barely took note of the corridors Keito led me through before finally opening a door to a small tatami room, signaling for me to get inside. I grabbed his wrist, pulling him into the room with me before pulling the door closed behind me quickly.

When I caught Keito’s gaze again, he seemed scared of the conversation that would follow.

“Keito, please explain to me what is going on here” I murmured quietly. “I’m begging you.” 

“Why are you asking this all the time, Yamada-Gocho?” he said in a very small voice. “It is scaring me.”

“I am the one that’s scared!” I pointed out desperately. “I don’t even understand what I’m doing here!”

“So… you mean, you are not supposed to be here?” Keito asked slowly, trying to digest my words. “If not here, then where?”

“In a different place” I murmured longingly. “One without all the war and the hate… One where we’re friends with Yuma and Chinen, and where no one wants to kill each other.”

“That sounds like a nice place” Keito commented, his voice almost a whisper.

“Keito” I spoke up, this time more firmly, determined to get some answers. “What year is it now?”

“Kitagawa 12” Keito answered automatically, looking up at me.

“ _Kitagawa_?”I repeated, chuckling despite myself. “Figures.”

“What year do you think it is?” Keito asked, ignoring my monologue.

“2012” I answered, meeting his eyes, which became huge in shock to my answer.

“Kitagawa?!” he asked, his voice high pitched, sounding more like himself, somehow. It made me smile.

“No, not Kitagawa” I laughed. “He is old, but not that old. We adapted the calculation of times from the west now.”

“You mean Osaka?” he asked tentatively.

“No, farther west” I chuckled, amused.

“Joseon? Or the Ming Empire?”

“Believe it or not, there does exist something even farther west.”

“So, what you want to say is… You are from the future?” Keito concluded finally, one hand rubbing his temple, as if this information gave him a headache. 

“Exactly” I nodded, adding thoughtfully: “Maybe 500 years or more? I’ve never been that good in history.”

“So you’re not Yamada Ryosuke, Gocho of Higashi no Chu?” he checked, frowning at me.

“I am Yamada Ryosuke” I argued, biting my lip. “But I don’t even know what a Gocho _does_! I am a Pop Idol, not a fighter!”

“So, are you the same person, or are you not?” Keito murmured.

“Yes, and no” I sighed, not knowing the answer myself. “I mean, I am as much the same Yamada Ryosuke you know as you are the same Okamoto Keito I know.” Keito looked at me questioningly, and I continued: “You are obviously no idol, I bet you have never seen a guitar in your whole life, and you have no idea where England is, but you are just as gentle and caring as the Keito I know… You have way too little self confidence and self value for your own good, you are so naïve that one wants to protect you, even if you don’t look it, and you would give your everything for your friends.”

Keito seemed stunned at my words, and I blushed, realizing that I was talking too much. Quickly, I added: “You are the same Okamoto Keito I know, just in a different time, with different circumstances. But your personality is the same.”

“I see…” Keito said slowly, blinking. 

“Do you really?” I asked doubtfully.

“Well, no” Keito admitted, and I had to smile at his embarrassed expression, “but…”

“A pity” I sighed. “I had hoped you could explain to me what was going on here.”

“I guess I could explain to you what kind of world you have come into…” Keito said slowly, obviously thinking. “But I have no clue how you came here, no.”

“So you do believe me?” I asked, slightly surprised. “You don’t think I’m crazy?”

Keito frowned, as if that possibility had just occurred to him again. 

“No” he said, though he looked doubtful. “I mean, maybe I am crazy, but… Like you said, you are Yamada Ryosuke, but at the same time… You seem different. More gentle, less… less like the Gocho I know. So I figure that, what you say… It must be true. They all say I am too naïve, but… “ he caught my eyes again, before finishing: “I believe you. I don’t know why I do, but I do.”

I smiled at Keito gratefully.

“Thank you, really” I whispered. “That means a lot to me.”

Keito smiled back shyly, and somehow, this world seemed not so dark anymore, now that I knew that I had him by my side. Had Keito always had this influence on me?

“So…” Keito said finally, thinking. “Shall I explain everything to you, about your rank and the war?”

“Please” I nodded, moving to sit down on the tatami, pulling at the hem of his Kimono for him to sit down opposite of me. 

“So, our world… Is not as nice as yours seems to be, if you have not realized that yet” Keito began in a silent voice. 

“Yeah, I thought so, when I had Yuma’s blade on my throat” I murmured, suppressing a shudder at the memory. “Why does he want to kill me?”

“That’s a long story” Keito sighed. “You used to be friends. We all used to be, at the beginning. Before this war broke free.”

“So they are our enemies?” I asked, hanging at his lips.   
  
“Yes” he continued. “They are from our neighbor domain, actually. Both our Daimyo are brothers, and even if they did not get along well, our armies worked together, and were educated in cooperation. We spent our school days together with Nakayama and his troop, since we are all of one age.”

“So, if our domains have been working together like this in the start, then why is there a war now?” I asked, frowning at him.

“There has been tension for a long while, because of the relation between the Domoto brothers”

“Domoto brothers?!” I repeated, looking at him with wide eyes. “Domoto Koichi and Tsuyoshi?!”

“Yes” Keito nodded. “You know them?!”

“They are our Senpai!” I called, stunned. “What is this, some kind of former Johnny’s generation?!” When Keito only gaped at me, I shook my head, murmuring: “Sorry, that’s just so… So, on whose side are we?”

“Domoto Koichi is the Daimyo of Higashi no Chu, our domain” Keito explained. “Domoto Tsuyoshi is the Daimyo of Nishi no Jo, the domain of our enemies.”

“And they started the war because they hated each other?!” I enquired, frowning. “I mean, sure, I know that they have never been the best of buddies, but starting a war because of that…”

“No, they always had a strong rivalry, but the war did not start because of that” Keito shook his head. “Takizawa-Shomyo and Imai-Shomyo always ensured a good cooperation. They kept the peace.”

I let the mention of Tackey & Tsubasa drop, thinking that I probably needed to get used to the idea that they would not be the last Johnnys I heard of in this world, instead asking: “What does a Shomyo do?”

“He is the political representive of a domain” Keito answered. “Takizawa-Shomyo and Imai-Shomyo have studied together in Edo, and therefore, had very similar ideas for the politics of their domains. They influenced their Daimyo in a positive way, and were able to build a cooperation.”

“I always thought Tackey would take over the agency someday” I murmured, more to myself than to Keito. “He is smart like that.” Keito raised an eyebrow at me, and I shook my head, saying: “Just ignore my little monologues and continue.”

“So, there have been a few incidences that have built a tension alongside our domains, as well as the relation between our Daimyo, but all in all, we had been cooperating in peace. Until Kamenashi Kazuya got promoted as our Samurai-Daisho.”

“What is a Samurai-Daisho?” I enquired. 

“You could say he is the head of our army” Keito explained with a frown. 

“So Kamenashi-Senpai started the war?!” I frowned, stunned. “I would have not put him for that…”

“It was not really Kamenashi-Daisho’s decision. There were other circumstances” Keito protested. “But first of all, don’t call him Senpai when anyone else is around. You will get in trouble.”

“Sorry” I sighed. “So, what were these ‘circumstances’?”

“When Kamenashi-Daisho was promoted as the new Samurai-Daisho, it came as a surprise” Keito continued. “Everyone had counted on it to become Akanishi-Gosho’s position.”

“Akanishi Jin?” I asked, my stomach falling at the mention of his name. “I suspect the worst.”

“Akanishi-Gosho was Kamenashi-Daisho’s best friend” Keito sighed, seeming pained by the story he was telling. “But he felt it like a betrayal from the Daimyo that Kamenashi, who was younger than him, was promoted instead of him. He searched the discussion with the Daimyo, and in the end, decided to leave our army.”

“How does this story sound familiar?” I groaned sarcastically. “And what did he do after he left?”

“He joined Nishi no Jo, after Nishikido-Daisho, the new Samurai-Daisho on their side, promised him a good career.” 

“Douche bag” I groaned. “Seriously, this is _so_ Akanishi. If someone tears down the whole agency, it would be him.” When Keito did not continue immediately, I asked: “So, after Akanishi joined them, Kamenashi-Senpai declared the war?”

“Kamenashi- _Daisho_ did not declare the war” Keito said pointedly. “The whole thing escalated from an encounter between Ueda-Gosho and Nishikido-Daisho.”

“Oh noooo” I groaned, hiding my face in my hands, shaking my head. “Not them, too. Seriously…”

“So, Ueda-Gosho and Nishikido-Daisho have never gotten along very well, even during their education, when they still had to work together” Keito continued, tentatively ignoring my break out. “And he is a very good friend of Kamenashi-Daisho. So he took the betrayal from Akanishi-Gosho, that Kamenashi-Daisho just gulped down, very personally, and blamed Nishikido-Daisho for it. Nishikido-Daisho, on the other hand, reacted very aggressively to Ueda-Gosho’s provocation, and reported it to the Daimyo. He then declared his brother the war, against Imai-Shomyo’s will.”

“Oh gosh, seriously, what are they, kindergarteners?!” I groaned. “I mean, sure, Akanishi has always been a plague, but letting him blow his hurt pride so out of proportion that it ends in a war… Isn’t Johnny Kitagawa the Shogun or something?! Why is he not interfering?!”

“Well, the Shogun has enough troubles with Kimura-Daisho’s rebellion” Keito frowned. “He can’t take care of everything, can he?”

“Kimura-Senpai, too?!” I moaned, shaking my head. “Seriously, this world is so fucked up!”

Keito did not comment on my outbreak, waiting patiently until I looked up to meet his eyes again. 

“So, I guess we are part of the army or something?” I asked finally. 

“Our army consists of 6 troops of 5 fighters, all lead by one Gosho. That is you, in our case.”

“And part of my troop are you, Kei, Kota and Yuya?” I checked, and Keito nodded. “And where are Yuto, Hikaru and Daiki?” 

“They are all in Nakayama’s troop.”

“What?!” I called, exasperated, making Keito tense visibly. “You have to be kidding me?! It’s bad enough that Yuma wants to kill me, but I can’t possibly fight against half of my band!”

“Well, if you don’t, they will probably kill you as soon as they get sight of you” Keito said quietly. “So what are you planning to do?”

I hid my face in my hands again, pictures of my friends crossing my mind: Yuto, who never seemed to be in a bad mood, always cheering me up, Daiki, who was talking so much that you could never help it but engage into his conversations, Hikaru, who behind this big mouth of his had a heart of gold, Chinen, our spoilt youngest, who used to sport the habit of sitting in everyone’s lab when he was younger, and Yuma, who always let me tease him endlessly whenever we saw each other, laughing it off, never taking me seriously… 

How was I supposed to fight against all those guys who were so precious to me?

“I can’t” I murmured, shaking my head, looking up at Keito pleadingly. “I really can’t, Keito. Even if they want to kill me… I can’t fight them. They are my friends, for heaven’s sake.” Keito just stared at me, his expression pained. “This is just a stupid war! Why do the issues of others make them hate us so much?! Why do we have to join their quarrels?!”

“You used to see that differently” Keito murmured. “You were the one who started the fight with Nakayama.”

“Me?!” I called, shocked. “Tell me you’re kidding me!”

“No” Keito shook his head. “You have a very high sense of pride, and a high loyalty to your superiors. After the war broke free, you attacked Nakayama verbally, saying that those of his side are all hypocrites and liars and that you don’t want to have anything to do with them anymore. Nakayama, whose sense for pride is just as high as yours, took your words very personally.”

“Yuma and a high sense of pride?!” I called incredulous. “I don’t know how many times I called him an idiot and he never even as much as glared at me!”

“Well, maybe the Nakayama Yuma from your time is like that” Keito shrugged. “Ours is not. He is very fierce – since the day of your fight, you two are sworn archenemies. He is set on killing you with his own hands.”

“Oh, come on, we’re talking about _Yuma_ here!” I called desperately. “Yuma, the one who runs screaming from insects! Yuma, who calls you in the middle of the night just because he feels lonely in his apartment and wants someone to talk! That Yuma! He could never kill _anyone_!”

“Then you know a different Nakayama Yuma than I do” Keito stated simply. 

I let out a frustrated sigh, hugging my knees close to my body. I did not want this, anything of this.

“Can’t I just return?” I asked quietly, my voice breaking slightly. “I swear I will never fight with anyone from the band again. I will never do a solo single again. I will never call Yuma stupid again. I will do anything, just bring me back!”

Keito stared at me, gulping, before whispering: “If I could, I would find you a way, and come with you, because this place that you come from, it just sounds amazing. But I don’t know how. This is all I know.”

I closed my eyes, fighting hard against the tears that were threatening to spill. I did not open them even when I felt Keito’s fingers timidly intertwining with mine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment? :)


	10. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!  
> Sorry for the long wait on this, I started working and a lot of stuff is coming up so I don't get to write so often at the moment :-/ Hope it will get better soon.  
> Anyways, here the next chapter, Kento's POV this time. Hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 9

Kento’s POV

I looked from the blade Hokuto held up in the air to Jesse, who seemed scared out of his mind, to Hokuto, who was looking back and forth between us in a fear not unlike the one in Jesse’s expression, only out of completely different reasons.

Or maybe the same one, really, because everything we had believed wrong or right was starting to crumble right in front of us, leaving us in a confusion we didn’t know how to deal with.

I took a deep breath, trying to find something to say.

“Hokuto” I finally murmured, my voice shaking slightly. “Please put that down. Jesse won’t attack us.”

“Nakajima-gocho, what is wrong with you today?!” Hokuto demanded in a desperate voice, directing the sword against me now, and I took a step back in horror. I heard Shori call Hokuto’s name in the background, but Hokuto did not react to him. “You are not acting like yourself, and I do not understand a word you are saying!

“Yeah, that’s because something is going really, really _wrong_ here and I have no idea what’s going on!” I called defensively, looking at Jesse helplessly. “One moment I was talking to Fuma, and the next moment I was here!”

“I was on stage at YokoAre” Jesse nodded, looking wearily back and forth between Shori and Hokuto as Shori drew his sword as well, apparently ready to interfere if things got out of hand, though he looked just as confused as Hokuto. “And I fell and suddenly, Kikuchi was shouting at me and being really scary and then I got lost and now I’m here!”

“ _You saw Fuma_?!” I murmured in a high pitched voice, a wave of relief washing over me. “Where is he?! I need to see him!”

“No, _you_ shouldn’t go to see him, of all people!” Jesse said quickly, his eyes wide as he shook his head. “I have no idea what’s going on here, but I know that he will kill you the moment he sees you!”

“Stop kidding me!” I called desperately. “I know Fuma better than anyone else, he wouldn’t-“

“Yeah, but this is not the Kikuchi Fuma _you_ know!” Jesse said loudly. “He’s even scarier than Hokuto right now!” He hesitantly turned to catch Hokuto’s eyes after the words were out, smiling embarrassedly and nodding in apology, but Hokuto seemed positively frozen and unable to react. 

“What do you mean?!” I called, feeling close to tears. “What is this shit, Jesse?! What is going on here?!”

“I have no idea!” Jesse sighed. “But I’m starting to think this is not a dream anymore and it really scares the heck out of me!”

I took a deep breath, trying to calm my emotions, and it was then, that Hokuto spoke up again. 

“I do not understand word of what the two of you are saying” he said, looking back and forth between us. “But if I do not receive an explanation right away, I will go and talk to Kamenashi-Daisho.” Shori nodded with wide eyes, as if he thought that was the best idea Hokuto had ever had. 

Jesse looked at me in an expression that screamed “What is a Daisho?!”, and I took a deep breath, trying to find something sensible to say. 

“Well, with the way things look” I said finally, turning to Hokuto. “Jesse and I traveled though time. I think.”

That was enough to make Hokuto lower his Katana, if only in shock.

“ _What_?!” he asked incredulous.

“So” Jesse interrupted, hanging on my lips just as Hokuto and Shori did. “You mean we entered a past life or something?!” 

“Maybe” I murmured, nervous now that all eyes were directed to me like that, expecting an explanation when I was not even sure what was going on myself. “But I don’t think that this is an illusion or something. It feels too real, especially now that you are here, Jesse!”

“What do you mean, you entered a past life?!” Shori murmured, looking back and forth between me and Jesse almost curiously now. “You mean you died and-“

“No, we didn’t die!” I said quickly, panicked at the thought. “We can’t have”

“I could” Jesse murmured, as if that thought had only occurred to him now. “I mean, I fell off stage, who knows how unluckily I landed…”

“I CAN’T HAVE DIED” I said loudly. “Fuma can’t have slammed me against the wall _that_ hard!”

“Kikuchi slammed you against a wall?!” Jesse demanded with a frown, and I gulped, murmuring: “That… doesn’t matter now. Fact is, we are alive!”

“So” Hokuto said loudly, looking as if he was trying to count one and one together. “What you want to say is, you both hit your head, and next thing you knew… you were here?”

“Hokuto” I murmured in relief. “You believe us, don’t you?!” 

“Well, I have spent all my youth with you, and you act nothing like yourself right now, if I may say so, Gocho” Hokuto sighed, looking at me curiously before eyeing Jesse out of the corner of his eyes. “But at the same time… I don’t know how to say it, but you are still _you_ , so…”

“I know what you mean” Shori nodded in a small voice, reluctantly putting his sword away again. “He _is_ Nakajima-Gocho.”

“Yeah” he murmured, biting his lip in thought. “Even Inoo…” he did let the sentence hang in the air, looking up at me again. “So, from how far in the future did you come?”

“Too far, apparently” I sighed, rolling my eyes. “At least a few centuries.”

“And in the future you came from… You knew each other?” he checked, looking to Jesse and then back to me again. 

“We _all_ know each other” I said quickly, also looking to Shori. “We are all friends.”

While Shori smiled at this information, seeming to like that thought, Hokuto wore a tortured expression for a moment as if the thought pained him, but when I blinked, he had schooled his expression to neutrality again. 

“Well, in this time, Inoo is our enemy” he said firmly, eyes focusing on Jesse again, only to look stunned when Jesse looked back at him with an obvious longing in his eyes. I had to look away, embarrassed at the obvious emotions in them.

“My name is Jesse” I heard him say, his voice rough.”Not Inoo.”

“J- what?” Hokuto murmured, confused.

“Jesse” he repeated. “Je-ss-e. Or Je-shiii, if you can’t pronounce it. But you always used to call me Jesse, so…”

“Is that… Japanese?” Shori spoke up, and I murmured: “He’s half-American” at him, only to get a confused look from Shori in return. 

“So” Hokuto said finally, looking back at me. “What are we doing with Inoo now? Kikuchi-gocho will have noticed him missing!”

Jesse looked disappointed to be addressed with the wrong name again, but I had no mind to feel compassion with him, the mention of Fuma’s name stirring a stronger need inside of me.

“Then let’s go meet Fuma” I said hopefully. “Let’s talk to him!”

“I told you, you can’t just go and meet him!” Jesse said in exasperation. “The guy is positively evil!”

“Kikuchi Fuma and you are arch enemies, Gocho!” Hokuto nodded, for once siding with Jesse, though he seemed uncomfortable to do it. “He will kill you the moment he catches sight of you!”

“Come on, it can’t be that bad!” I groaned, not understanding what the deal was about, but Hokuto shook his head firmly, calling: “You have no idea what happened in the past, so you don’t understand!”

“Why?” I asked, stunned. “What happened?”

“You and Kikuchi-gocho” he murmured, seeming uncomfortable in having to tell that story. “You used to be incredibly close. Too close for society’s standards, if you understand me.”

“No, I don’t” I frowned, shaking my head. “If we were close, then why does he want to kill me now?! I-“

“You and Kikuchi-gocho were involved with each other, in a love affair” Hokuto interrupted me finally with what seemed great difficulty to speak out the words. “Ever since our education. Long before the war.”

Everything inside of me tightened at this piece of information. The thought that Fuma and I even had been lovers in our past lives hit me harder than it maybe should have. 

“Not many people knew of your relationship” Hokuto continued, finally packing his Katana away too, as if in a frustrated gesture. “It was only me, and Kouchi-dono as Kikuchi-gocho’s closest confident. But somehow, the information leaked, and it reached Nishi no Jo’s Daimyo.”

“So you mean, it became a scandal?” I frowned, trying to process Hokuto’s words. 

“’A scandal’ is an understatement” Hokuto raised his eyebrows. “I don’t know about the norms of your times, but here, a relationship between 2 men is a huge taboo. It’s not unheard of, of course, but it is never spoken off publicly. So an involvement of Nishi no Jo’s next Daisho and a Gocho of the enemy group… There was a huge turmoil in the clan!”

“I still don’t understand what you’re saying” I shook my head, my brain seeming to work more slowly than usually today. 

“Kikuchi-gocho was supposed to become Daisho next, the leader of Nishi no Jo’s army” Hokuto explained. “For years and years this position has stayed in the Kikuchi family, and of course, Kikuchi Fuma was supposed to be the next in the line. But then, the story of your relationship leaked, and his father, Kikuchi Tsunetoshi, needed to resign as Daisho. Instead of Kikuchi Fuma, Nishikido Ryo became his successor.”

“So, you mean… it is my fault that his career and the honor of his family were ruined?” I whispered, my heart sinking. “That’s why he hates me so much?”

“Not only this” Hokuto sighed. “He is also of the firm opinion that you spread the information.”

“WHAT?!” I asked in shock. “WHY ME?! I mean, … I didn’t, did I?” I added a little unsurely. 

“Of course you did not!” Hokuto said indignantly, his jaw tightening in obvious anger. “You loved him, you would have never done anything to harm him! I have no idea who fed him this information or how he even ended up believing them!”

“But then-“ I stuttered, my thoughts blurring into each other. “Didn’t I tell him so?! Didn’t we talk about this?! Didn’t we-“

“It is not that easy, Gocho!” Hokuto said softly. “We are in war. And both you and Kikuchi were watched closely directly after the news broke, both of you under the suspicion of being a spy! You talked only once, on the day Kikuchi-Daisho resigned. And he did not even let you speak. All he said was that he swore to kill you with his own blade, and left.”

I shook my head, feeling the tears at the back of my eyes. Sure, Fuma and I had had our issues lately, but when it had come down to it, we had always stuck together. We had always been a team, no matter if as friends or as lovers.

The thought that Fuma really hated me in any kind of reality was almost too much to bear. 

“If it is any comfort for you, on our side, you never really lost the support of the superiors” Hokuto said quietly. “Takizawa-Shomyo held a big parol in your defense, and even if the Daimyo ordered for you to be watched, Kamenashi-Daisho and the other Gocho never really doubted you. Your position in the army stayed unchanged, Gocho.”

“I don’t care about my position!” I called, my voice slightly chocked. “I don’t care for this stupid war or whatever is going on here, I want to see Fuma!”

“Okay, Nakajima, calm down!” Jesse said finally, taking a step towards me hesitantly. 

“ _Calm down_?!” I yelled. “You try to calm down when you suddenly hear that Hokuto hates you and wants to kill you!”

“I had Hokuto’s blade in my back earlier!” Jesse shouted, making me fall silent. “I know how you feel, but you being hysteric won’t bring us anywhere!”

I took a deep breath, trying to fight against my emotions, and everyone was silent for a moment. 

Surprisingly, it was Shori who spoke up again.

“What are we doing about Inoo-dono now?” he said finally, looking at Hokuto. “Are we reporting to the Daisho…?”

“No” Hokuto said immediately, his voice firm. “He would just report to the Daimyo, and it would end up in him either being imprisoned or killed, and it would probably make the war escalate tomorrow the latest. We can’t risk that, now that Nakajima-gocho is not quite… himself, at the moment.”

“So you mean we will just _hide_ him?!” Shori murmured, seeming scared by the thought.

“No” Hokuto frowned, eyeing Jesse contemplatively for a moment before continuing: “We will wait until tomorrow, and then we will talk to Takizawa-Shomyo. He is likely to help us. We will tell him that Inoo went over to our side. That he fled Nishi no Jo to join us.” He studied Jesse for another moment, before asking him directly: “Or do you want to go back?”

Jesse seemed to shudder at the thought alone before shaking his head hastily. I wondered how terribly Fuma must have treated him. 

“Good” Hokuto nodded, turning to Shori again. “Please bring Nakajima-Gocho to his room” he advised him. ”He had a long and emotionally straining day, he should sleep and collect his strength for tomorrow, when we need to talk to the Shomyo. I will take care of Inoo.”

Shori nodded, looking at me expectantly, but I was hesitant to follow him, looking back and forth between Hokuto and Jesse.

“Do not worry, Gocho” Hokuto said with a smile, reading my expression correctly. “I will not harm Inoo in your absence. You can trust me. I would not do anything without your say so.” 

I took a deep breath before nodding silently. I was glad that at least Hokuto’s character had not changed too much throughout the centuries, because it gave me at least a little security. Though I was still reluctant to leave Jesse’s side, now that I had found someone in the same situation as me. 

But Jesse smiled at me, obviously still nervous but also visibly less worried now that Hokuto had promised to not hurt him, and it made me finally move my feet and follow Shori back into the residence. 

Shori continued shooting me worried glances all the way through the corridors back to the tatami room I had woken up in, but I kept silent, feeling too emotionally drained to speak up. When we finally reached my room and I let myself fall back onto the futon, Shori was still watching me.

“Is there anything I can help you with, Gocho?” he said finally. 

“As long as you can’t bring me Fuma, you can’t do anything” I shook my head, and when he looked rather helpless at those words, I made an effort to send him at least the ghost of a smile. “Thanks, Shori. Goodnight.”

Shori nodded slowly, slightly flushing, probably at the use of his first name as I realized a moment later, before bowing and shutting the door behind him. 

I leant back against the futon, closing my eyes, immediately seeing Fuma’s face in front of me. His smile, the mischievous glint in his eyes whenever he was teasing someone, the way it felt when he held me in his arms…

How could he hate me so much that he wanted to kill me?

“Fuma…” I whispered, crawling in on myself, and now that I was alone, I allowed myself to finally cry the tears I had held back so desperately in front of Hokuto and Jesse. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love? :)


	11. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!   
> Finally a new chapter, I know... Sorry for the long wait, I am busier lately and if I get to write, it is hard to get into the mood for a complicated story like this. So now that I have vacation I hope I can get something done ^^'  
> This chapter is Jesse's POV. Hope you like it!

Jesse’s POV

Hokuto and I watched as Shori-Kun brought Nakajima back into the residence, and my heart hurt a little for Nakajima and how he still looked close to tears after hearing the story about him and Kikuchi. 

I had never quite understood what was going on between Nakajima and Kikuchi in the present, to be honest: I was not especially close to them, only having built some kind of friendship after Hokuto and I had gotten together because of Hokuto’s attachment to them, but I had always wondered if they were not maybe a secret couple or something, and if not at least had feelings for each other. Because they had always seemed _too_ close to just be friends, in my books. 

I had once or twice asked Hokuto about it, but he had seemed unwilling to talk about it, saying that it was complicated and that he didn’t really know what was going on himself. 

But judging from Nakajima’s reaction now, I was pretty sure that there was much more than they had ever let on. It left us in the same boats, really.

I looked up at Hokuto hesitantly, and when he looked back at me rather curiously, I realized that maybe, I was not off as bad as Nakajima, after all. 

There was a short silence between us before Hokuto spoke up.

“I am going to lead you to a spare room now, one that is not frequently used, and I will stay with you there for the night. You will not wander around alone, under no circumstances. We need to hide you until we can catch Takizawa-Shomyo tomorrow. Understood?”

I nodded, and Hokuto sighed before taking off into a different direction than Shori-Kun and Nakajima had disappeared to, further along the courtyard before turning to enter a small side door. Hokuto hesitated a moment, apparently checking if there were any people around, before waving me inside.

My eyes were glued to Hokuto’s back and I didn’t really look up before he stopped and slid open a random door, wordlessly hushing me inside. 

The empty tatami room was dark other than a small candle lightning it, without windows to give natural light to it. 

Hokuto slid the door closed behind us, seeming a little calmer now that we had reached his destination. 

“There are futons in the cupboard” he nodded across the room, resting himself against one of the doors. “I will stay with you for the night, in case anyone finds you.”

“Thank you” I smiled down at him. “I know you don’t really want to do this, but thank you anyways.”

Hokuto didn’t answer, just frowning, and I hesitated for a moment before throwing all doubts to hell and moving over to him, sitting down on the floor right next to him.

Hokuto blinked in confusion, seeming unsure about what to do about such proximity, and I tried to not let the tense atmosphere throw me, instead just talking to loosen it up.

“I’m really glad that I am here with all of you now” I said with a sigh, hugging my knees close to my chest. “I was a little scared of Kikuchi, I don’t know what he’d have done with me if I kept messing up.”

Hokuto frowned, seeming to process my information, before his features relaxed as if in defeat. 

“I heard Kikuchi-gocho had changed a lot ever since the thing with Nakajima-gocho” he said quietly. “He used to be a pleasant leader. A little fierce but with a loyal character. But I heard that he became bitter and stopped trusting anyone but Kouchi-dono.”

“Yeah, Yugo was pretty weird as well” I nodded, making a face. “I’m just glad I found you people now. You are much nicer.”

“… Even though I threatened you earlier?” Hokuto pointed out, his lips curling up in a smile, and I was delighted to see it. 

“Well, now you’re helping me, right?” I smiled, shrugging. “You’re still _my_ Hokuto, after all” I added almost automatically. 

Hokuto looked at me curiously at that, scanning my face as if I was the most interesting thing he had encountered in a life time. 

“’ _My_ Hokuto’?!” he repeated, tilting his head a little in thought. “We were _that_ close in the times you come from?”

“You are the most important person to me” I murmured, glad that he didn’t seem repulsed by the thought, merely intrigued. “We are partners.”

He kept watching me for another moment before chucking, shaking his head at me. 

“You are behaving as if you are 5 years old again” he stated, amused.

“ _What_?!” I frowned, wondering if I should be offended, but judging by Hokuto’s delighted expression, it was a compliment.

“When we were kids you kept following me around, saying I was your ‘Aniki’” he grinned. “You were a little annoying, to be honest, but it was also endearing.”

I smiled a little in embarrassment, imagining the scene. I bet if I had known Hokuto as a kid already in the present, it would have gone just the same way. 

“Well, I only choose the best people” I said finally with a shrug and Hokuto chuckled. “But if we were on good terms when we were kids” I said thoughtfully. “Then why did you want to kill me when you saw me?”

Hokuto’s smile faded and he frowned. 

“I stopped trusting people of your side after the thing with Nakajima-gocho and Kikuchi-gocho” he said quietly. “Especially after that one time Kouchi-dono tried to kill Nakajima-gocho.”

“Huh?!” I asked, alarmed at the thought, because it was Yugo and how was that guy supposed to kill _anyone_?!

“He crossed ways with us once, I do not even know what he was doing in our territory” Hokuto explained, his face dark. “I was not with Nakajima-gocho that time, Goseki-dono was. I only caught up with them a little later, and when I did, there was a big fight, and Kouchi-dono was directing his katana against Nakajima-gocho.”

“I would have never put Yugo for that kind of guy” I frowned, trying to imagine it. “In my time, he is pretty calm and easy going.”

“He is calm in this time as well” Hokuto nodded. “I do not know what came over him that time, and Nakajima-gocho will not talk about it. He just advised me firmly not to trust Kouchi-dono ever again, and I believe in what Nakajima-gocho says.”

“You like Nakajima very much, don’t you?” I asked with a smile.

“He is a very good Gocho” Hokuto said honestly. “He is kind and proceeds with care instead of violence. He puts the troop before himself. This is why I took it onto myself to protect him.”

“He seems to be pretty much the same guy that he is in the present” I said slowly. “At least that’s my impression of him, I actually don’t know him as well as you.”

“So Nakajima-gocho and I are close in the present?” he asked, seeming pleased to hear that.

“Not as close as us” I said quickly, and Hokuto chuckled at that. 

“I remember one episode when we were kids” Hokuto said quietly, a fond smile on his face. “Nakajima-gocho, Kikuchi-gocho, Kouchi-dono and I were playing a game with glass marbles. You found us after a while and wanted to play with us, but Kikuchi said no because you were too young. I think he just wanted to nag you because I was there. You threw such a tantrum after that and you would not stop crying. So I stopped playing and gave you one of the marbles I had brought along. You carried it around forever after that. I don’t know why I still remember this so well” Hokuto ended with a sigh, shaking his head.

I blinked, frowning as I rummaged in the sleeve of my Kimono, quickly pulling out the little glass ball I had found between my things earlier this morning.

“This one?” I asked, giving it to Hokuto.

Hokuto’s eyes widened as he took it from me, observing it as if he was seeing a ghost.

“How did you-“

“I found it between my things this morning” I shrugged. “I think the past me never really forgot about you, after all.”

Hokuto looked at the glass ball with a touch of gentleness in his eyes before he closed his fist around it, closing his eyes. 

“This world is cruel” he said finally, almost ruefully. “I wonder what would have happened had this war never broken out.”

“We would all be friends” I suggested tentatively. “Like we are in the present.”

“That’s a nice reality” Hokuto smiled, opening his eyes again to look at me. 

There was a moment of silence before Hokuto reached out his fist, ready to give the glass ball back to me, but I shook my head.

“Keep it” I said quietly. “It means more to you than it does to me now.”

Hokuto looked at it again before carefully putting it away into the seam of his own sleeve. 

I kept looking at Hokuto, my eyes tracing the contours of his face, and I wanted nothing more than to reach out and hold him close. I controlled myself, though, knowing very well that this would be one step too close for the Hokuto of this time. I could be happy that he had opened up to me this much. 

“You should go to sleep now” Hokuto nodded finally.

“What about you?” I murmured in confusion.

“I will stay awake, just in case” he shrugged, and when I looked at him with big eyes, he chuckled. “I am used to that, don’t worry, I had enough night shifts with far less sleep.”

I still looked at him rather hesitantly, but Hokuto stood up to open the cupboard and get out the futon without another word.

When I finally lay down, I thought I would not be able to sleep with Hokuto watching me, but as soon as I had closed my eyes, I was dead to the world.

***

When I woke up the next morning, it was because I heard a murmur of voices. I needed a moment, feeling disoriented as I opened my eyes, but finally I recognized Hokuto sitting at the open door, having a hushed discussion with someone who looked a lot like Goseki Koichi.

“What makes you so sure he is no spy?!” Goseki demanded, seeming alarmed. “I would not take responsibility for him!”

“Nakajima-gocho and I have known him for a very long time!” Hokuto said firmly. “We are ready to take responsibility for him.”

“You have known Kikuchi-gocho and Kouchi-dono for a long time as well and look how well you can trust them!” Goseki scoffed.

“Inoo-dono is different” Hokuto insisted. 

“You and Nakajima-gocho are too soft” he murmured, shaking his head. “You know this is going to have consequences?! Kikuchi-gocho will not just calmly let one of his men change sides!”

“That’s why we will talk to Takizawa-shomyo!” Hokuto murmured. “He and Imai-shomyo can-“

“Excuse my lack of faith, but I doubt that the Shomyo have this much influence at the moment!” Goseki interrupted him. “Expecially on the side of Nishi no Jo! Our Daimyo has always thought highly of Takizawa-Shomyo, but theirs…”

“We will have to try!” Hokuto said firmly. “Nakajima-gocho made his decision to offer refugee to Inoo-dono, and you do not want to go against your Gocho, do you?”

Goseki sighed, making a face.

“I warned you, remember that!” he said darkly before bowing to Hokuto. “I will go search for Takizawa-Shomyo now, like you suggested!”

Hokuto bowed as well and closed the door again as Goseki took off. When he turned to me again, his eyes widened at seeing I was awake.

“I am making you trouble, right?” I said with a guilty voice, sitting up. 

“Of course you are” Hokuto shrugged, but smiled as I frowned unhappily. “But this is war, everything is trouble here.”

“I’m sorry” I murmured, and Hokuto shook his head.

“Even the Nakajima-gocho of our times would have decided to take you in” he said, seeming sure of that. “I do not feel like this is a mistake. We will not harm innocent men.”

“I am lucky that you found me” I smiled, and Hokuto chuckled, but was kept from saying anything when the door slid open, tensing only to relax again when Nakajima let himself into the room. 

“I’m hiding from Marius, don’t tell him I’m here” Nakajima murmured darkly. “He is always down my back and keeps looking at me all weirdly, I don’t know what to tell him.”

“… Who?” Hokuto murmured, seeming alarmed, and I threw in “… _Yo_ , maybe?” with a slight chuckle.

“Oh, Yo-dono!” Hokuto nodded before waving it off with a sigh. “Do not worry about him, he is always confused, this is nothing new.”

“Well, here we have something that never changes” Nakajima sighed, making me laugh. “So, what are we going to do now?” 

“We will talk to Takizawa-Shomyo once Goseki-dono got hold of him” Hokuto said.

“Okay, then I’ll wait with you” Nakajima said, sitting down next to him. “I won’t go out to let Marius stalk me again!”

Hokuto looked at me a little confusedly, and I had to suppress my laughter as I packed together my futon.

***

“So” Takki said slowly, rubbing his sleeves as if to dampen a headache. “You want to tell me Inoo-dono fled from Kikuchi-gocho because he felt threatened by him, and I am supposed to convince the Daimyo that he is no spy and fix things with Imai-Shomyo so that Kikuchi-gocho will not storm this residence and cut open Nakajima-gocho’s throat? No offense here.”

“Well… yes” Nakajima said quietly, looking to Hokuto helplessly. 

“We know that this is a lot to ask, Shomyo” Hokuto jumped in. “But we cannot send Inoo-dono back like this, it will be his death sentence. You know Kikuchi-gocho’s methods!”

“I know” he sighed, sitting down in frustration, signaling for us to sit as well. “And you know how I am all for peace and protecting innocents and everything… But how are we supposed to explain to the Daimyo that Inoo-dono is no spy? He does not fully trust Nakajima-gocho anymore as it is.”

“Kikuchi-gocho would have never sent me as a spy” I said firmly. “He doesn’t trust me even the tiniest bit.”

Hokuto shrugged, as if that was a good enough explanation, and Takki sighed deeply.

“Nishi no Jo will be in a total uproar right now” he said almost desperately. “They will never let this slip without consequences. I bet Imai-Shomyo is already screaming his heart out over there.”

“We know that this is a lot to ask” Hokuto said pleadingly. “But please help us, Shomyo, we beg you.”

Takki sighed again before nodding.

“Fine, fine” he murmured. “I’ll handle it somehow. And now go and hide Inoo-dono before everyone sees him and creates a tumult.”

“Thank you so much, Shomyo!” Hokuto said in relief, bowing down deeply, and Nakajima and I quickly copied them. 

“Yes, yes” he nodded, seeming still troubled. “Now go already, I have work to do!” 

With another deep bow, Hokuto scrambled himself up, and Nakajima and I followed him quickly. 

We did not speak until we were safely back in the room I had spent the night in. 

“So, this means we still have to hide Jesse?!” Nakajima said unhappily the moment Hokuto had closed the door. 

“Be happy Takizawa-Shomyo supports us, he is our only chance on this!” Hokuto said a little impatiently. “This is not an easy matter, Inoo – I mean, Jesh- oh however he’s called now, he came from enemy lines! Of course this is trouble!”

“What will we do if the Daimyo says no?” I said quietly, really worried now. “Will they kill me?”

Nakajima fell quiet, looking at me in shock, and Hokuto gulped before finally speaking. 

“We will not let this happen” he said firmly. 

“But what will you be able to do when your boss decides things…?” I said uncomfortably.

“We will flee” Hokuto shrugged, taking me off guard with this answer. “And hope that a clan that isn’t involved in this war will offer us refugee.”

“You mean, you would give everything up just to save me?” I asked, an incredible warmth spreading through me.

Hokuto seemed uncomfortable with the words, and just shrugged, murmuring: “For now let’s just wait and see what Takizawa-Shomyo can do.”

I met Nakajima’s eyes, and he sent me an encouraging smile, and I felt so lucky to have met these two.

Especially Hokuto, but he had always been my savior.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love? <3


	12. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Sorry for the long wait! Here the next chapter - this time Ryosuke and Chinen.

Chinen’s POV 

After staying up the whole night and reading my diary (even leaving the room to read it somewhere in a corner with a candle when Yuto, Daiki and Hikaru went to bed) I was a lot more educated about this world I had stumbled into, and more confused than ever at the same time. 

I had learned that I was part of a clan called Nishi no Jo ruled by the Daimyo Domoto Tsuyoshi, and that we were at war with a clan called Higashi no Chu, ruled by his brother Domoto Koichi. That our clans had been allies, at first, before some incidences made the situation escalate and turn our friends into enemies. 

And I had learned that I was a traitor to my clan. 

I did not seem to have any bad intentions, on the upside, but from what was written in my diary, I was anything but the model soldier Yuma believed me to be. 

Before the war had broken out, Ryosuke’s and our troop had apparently been like a family, from what I could tell from my sometimes a little confusing notes. We had worked together, learned together, fought together, and the first few entries of my diary seemed happy and light. 

Then, there was one entry that changed the whole tone of my chronicles. My handwriting became messy and barely readable, and the pages were crumbled and drenched by what I assumed to be tears. I could barely make sense out of what I had written that day, but it seemed to be telling about the start of the war, and some fight Ryosuke and Yuma had had, turning them into sworn enemies. 

After that, I had stopped writing for what had seemed weeks or maybe months at a time. And the next thing I wrote it had been about Yuya. 

I had mentioned Yuya before, every now and then as part of Ryosuke’s troop and a friend, but I had never put much emphasis on my experiences with him, at least not as far as I could read. Now, most of my entries started to tell about him. 

The first one told about how I had met Yuya again after such a long silence, merely by chance throughout a patrol of our district gates. How we had stared at each other for a while, and instead of attacking me, Yuya had lowered his Katana and smiled at me, asking me how I was doing. And how I had just lowered my Katana as well, relieved of seeing him again, and as if on instinct had crossed our distance and hugged him close. 

After that, we had secretly met up as often as we could. At first, I had just inconspicuously strolled near the place we had met the first time in hope that we could meet again, and then, we had started to set fixed dates on which we could steal away without any of our troop members noticing it. 

At first, we had just talked about random things, not even addressing the war or any troop matters, just enjoying being with each other and forgetting our troubles for a while. 

And then, there had been this confusing entry which I had had to read four times before I understood it right. And it seemed like, on this day, Yuya had kissed me and had told me that he loved me, sending me in a conflict of feelings. 

I was glad that I had already been alone when I had read that part, because I must have blushed so hard that I would have surely aroused the others’ attention. It was the way I described Yuya’s lips on mine, the look in his eyes and the way he had held me. It was all I had ever imagined in the present, and thinking that all of this had happened in a past life was almost too much for me to take. 

Other than the present me, the past me seemed to have struggled a lot with his feelings. I had apparently avoided meeting Yuya for weeks after that, unsure of what to tell him when I met him. 

It was then, that suddenly, Yamashita Tomohisa had crossed ways with me to hand me a letter from Yuya. I had looked at him with big eyes because no one was supposed to know of my secret meetings with Yuya, but he had just smiled at me and had, without any hesitance, told me that he worked as a spy for Higashi no Chu. 

I had gaped at him, not knowing what to say to this, but he had not waited for my input, instead diving into a retell about his feelings regarding this war. That only months before, his best friends had been Kamenashi Kazuya and Akanishi Jin from Higashi no Chu. That he had not even cared that they had been of a different clan, until unexpectedly, Kamenashi became Daisho, and Akanishi freaked and left Higashi no Chu to join Nishi no Jo. How he had been witness to how Nishikido had lured him to their sides, and having to face Akanishi as his new Gocho suddenly, not knowing if he could actually swear him his loyalty in a fight against Kamenashi. 

After the fight had escalated with a confrontation between Ueda and Nishikido, throwing us all into this war, he had searched out Kamenashi and Takki, who was apparently Higashi no Chu’s Shomyo, something like a political leader, as I assumed. 

“I don’t want to betray Nishi no Jo” Yamashita had ensured me. “But I also despise this war. I want nothing more than peace. And I feel like you are thinking the same way.” 

He told me that he had met Yuya when he had returned from a secret meeting with Kamenashi, finding him lurking near the border to our territory. How he had explained the situation to Yuya before he could attack, and how Yuya had sworn secrecy if Yamashita delivered this letter to me. 

“Takaki-Dono seemed pained” he had said. “I am not sure what has happened, but I witnessed Kamenashi-Daisho and Akanishi-Gocho drifting apart even though they always had an undeniable bond, and it was the saddest thing to observe. So please think twice about what you are going to do. This war is not worth breaking a friendship apart.” 

The talk with Yamashita seemed to have shaken my past self, because after that, I actually had read Yuya’s letter. I had also found the letter in the diary, and reading it had broken my heart. 

He had apologized for scaring me with his confession, and said that he could understand if I did not want to see him anymore, but that when it came to him, he did not care about us being enemies or men or whatever else was standing in our way. That he loved me, had already before this war had broken out, and would still even if his feelings for me would kill him, in the end. 

His words had moved the past me to finally get over my insecurities and admit to my own feelings for him. After that, we began meeting up again, with the help of both Yamashita and Yasuda Shota. Yasuda had apparently found out about Yamashita being a spy at some point, and being sick of that war himself had agreed to keep his secret and help him, in hope that he could bring us all peace with his double activities. When Yamashita had told him about me and Yuya, he had agreed to keep my secret along with his. 

So now, whenever one of the two had patrol, they let me sneak past the borders to meet Yuya without any problems. 

And apparently, the next time I was supposed to meet him was today. So I decided not to care that I had not slept a wink (it was not like I was not used to these kind of things, with my job as an idol), and stole myself out of the residence still before sunrise. 

I was quite scared of getting lost, desperately clinging to all the descriptions of the territory I could remember from the diary, and was more than relieved when I finally crossed ways with Yasuda Shota. 

He smiled at me, and with a slight bow announced: “I saw that Takaki-dono has already arrived at your usual place. You have an hour before I have to change with Murakami-dono, so please keep the time in mind.” 

I nodded, and Yasuda smiled again and stepped aside, and with a deep bow, I made my way past him, deeper into the forest. 

When I finally spotted Yuya standing at the large erratic I had described as our meeting point in the diary, I froze for a moment, staring at him. 

His dark hair was styled in a way not unlike mine, in the knot simple soldiers like us wore, and the dark Kimono he wore accentuated his figure, thinner than I was used to from the present. He looked so different, and still, looking at him, I got just the same feelings I had for my Yuya in the present. 

I was torn from my trance when Yuya looked up and spotted me, a wide smile spreading over his face. 

I was barely ready to react as Yuya crossed the distance between us, and before I knew it, his lips were on mine. I moaned in surprise, but Yuya only pulled me against him, moving his lips firmly against mine, and I felt like my whole body tingled from the touch. 

Yuya’s lips were soft and perfect and felt even better than I could have ever imagined, and then his tongue licked his way into my mouth and I was completely lost. All I could do was cling to his Kimono as he kissed me, breaking me apart only with his touches, and for a moment, I forgot that I was not in my time and place and that all of this was messed up and wrong. 

When we broke apart for air, Yuya smiled at me before whispering, his voice rough and full of longing: “I missed you, Yuri!” 

I only licked my lips, the ghost of the kiss still lingering there, unsure of what to answer, but Yuya seemed not to need my input as he pulled me into a tight hug. 

*** 

Ryosuke’s POV 

I did not let go of Keito all night, even as he insisted on wanting to leave, but he was the only thing in this crazy, messed up world that was bringing me some kind of security, and I was not ready to let him out of my sight even for one moment. 

So in the end, Keito spent the night with me in my room, on a separate futon because he had only looked shocked when I had suggested for him sleeping in mine, but his hand still reached out loosely so that I could hold it even in my sleep. 

I was woken up by him gently the next morning, and Keito seemed hesitant at first, apparently wondering if I maybe had turned back to my past self over night, and seeming weirdly relieved to find out I was still as clueless as ever. 

“Yam – Ryosuke” he corrected himself immediately when I caught his eyes pointedly. “We should really sneak away to a quiet place before everyone else wakes up and practice your fighting skills. I have been thinking and when you cannot defend yourself in our situation, it is really bad. Also, everyone will notice that something is wrong with you. So we really need to take care of that matter as quickly as possible.” 

I nodded hesitantly, not really fond of the idea of learning how to fight because I seriously did not want to fight anyone, neither in this world nor in the past, but I knew that Keito had a point. 

So I followed him as we sneaked out of the residence and its grounds together, deeper and deeper into the forest, until Keito seemed satisfied enough with our location and turned to me. 

“Draw your Katana” he advised before revealing his own. I gulped for a moment as I watched the sword in Keito’s hand warily before fumbling for my own, pulling it out of its scabbard carefully. 

“You are going to attack me now in the best way you can” Keito said slowly, positioning himself with his Katana raised. “Let us see what comes out of it.” 

“I can’t attack you” I said with wide eyes. “I don’t even know how!” 

“But I cannot attack you, either” Keito sighed, raising an eyebrow at me pleadingly. “So please just try, okay?” 

I took a deep breath before staring at the sword in my hand. It did not feel as foreign in my hand as I had thought that it would, and maybe, I figured, that was a good sign. 

So I just raised my sword as well, eyeing Keito for a moment before moving. 

Everything happened fast and without much input from me. Somehow, my body seemed to know exactly what to do even without my brain contributing anything, and before I knew it, Keito’s sword met mine again and again as he tried to defend himself of my attacks. 

I was surprised myself when, the next thing I realized, Keito’s Katana was on the ground, and he stepped back from me hastily, flinching as he tripped with his already hurt ankle and fell to the ground. 

The pain on Keito’s face seemed to be what woke me off my trance, and I let the sword fall almost in shock. 

“Keito” I murmured in panic, falling to my knees in front of him, reaching out for his shoulder. “I’m so sorry, I-“ 

“Do not be sorry” Keito murmured, trying to smile up at me. “You fight just like your past self, I think we are safe in that aspect.” 

“I am sorry” I said weakly, reaching out for his foot hesitantly. Keito groaned immediately when I picked it up and bent it experimentally, his hand balling into a fist from the pain. 

“Keito, that seems serious” I said quietly. “You need to rest your foot, or it will never-“ 

“I cannot just rest, and you know that” Keito sighed. “We are in war and we all have our duties. If we are patrolling and meet an enemy, I need to be able to defend myself!” 

My hand was shaking as I put his foot down, even my voice unsteady as I spoke again. 

“You can’t defend yourself like this, Keito!” I pointed out with a slight trace of panic in my voice. “They will kill you in the blink of an eye, and I… I can’t let this happen. Not to you, of all people.” 

Keito was opening his mouth to respond, but cut himself off when I jumped up, reaching out for his hand. 

“Let’s go!” I said intently, and Keito only looked up at me in confusion. 

“Go where?” he blinked. 

“Somewhere, I don’t care!” I called, grabbing Keito’s hand myself when he didn’t reach out for mine, pulling him up roughly. “Somewhere that is not here, and where there is no war!” 

“You mean you want to flee?!” Keito asked in alarm, grabbing onto my shoulder for balance. “We cannot do that, you are the Gocho of our troop!” 

“I don’t care who I am!” I yelled. “And I don’t care what I have to do or what people expect of me, I just want us to be safe and you are coming with me now, and if I have to drag you I will!” 

“I – Ryosuke!” Keito protested, but I just fastened my arm around his waist, picked up our Katana just for defense in case we met someone who wanted to stop us, and made my way forward into the forest blindly, pulling a hobbling Keito along. 

“Ryosuke, stop!” Keito groaned, holding onto me tightly to not fall. “We can’t do this! You are needed in Higashi no Chu!” 

“I told you, I don’t care!” I called. 

“But there is nowhere to flee!” he insisted. “Even if we make it out of Higashi no Chu, there is war everywhere, with Kimura-Daisho’s revolution! There is danger everywhere!” 

“I will think of something!” I called, my voice high from the panic. “Anything! We just need to get away from here!” 

“I really don’t think this is going to help!” Keito called, stumbling over a root, and I lost my footing with him, both of us crashing to the ground. 

I heard gasps and movement around us after that, and I looked up in disorientation just in time to take note of two people not far from us, jumping apart from an embrace at the loud noise. 

I was just about to reach for my Katana when I heard a familiar voice call my name. My first name. 

“Ryosuke?” 

I blinked, looking up at Chinen’s face with surprise. He looked back at me in a weird mix of confusion and hope, and I blinked, needing a moment to let the possibility of what could be happening here sink in. 

“… Yuri?” I murmured hesitantly. 

Chinen smiled slightly, tilting his head and shrugging awkwardly. 

“Hi.” 

I only stared at him, not believing what was happening here. 


	13. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! New chapter, this time Ryosuke's POV! The story is drawing to a close (well, slowly but steadily) so I am more motivated to write. Yay for that :D

Ryosuke’s POV

I scrambled to my feet, my heart beating in my ears as my eyes focused on Chinen’s face, taking it in for any kind of changes.

He looked just like Keito and Yuya and everyone else I had met in this time, in a dark Kimono with a traditional hairstyle and totally unlike the Chinen I knew. But the expression on his face…

“You are from the present, too” I whispered. “You are from 2012.”

Chinen nodded, and a wave of relief flashed through me, and before I knew it, I had crossed the distance between us to hug him close. I was so close to bursting out into tears as well because at last there was someone with the same fate as me, someone who knew the same stuff as me, and someone who could maybe help me get out of here.

“Yuri, what is going on?!” I called, looking at him. “What is happening here?! Why are we here?!”

“I have no idea” Chinen sighed, shrugging helplessly. “We were just rehearsing for Johnnys’ World and suddenly-“

“Yeah” I nodded. “We really need to get out of here, Yuri. This world is crazy!”

“I know” Chinen sighed, and it was then that he looked to his side, and suddenly, his eyes went wide.

I followed his gaze, only to realize that Yuya was still standing next to us, expression shocked and clearly scared and his hands reaching for his Katana.

“Yuya!” Chinen called, shaking his head. “Please listen to me, I-“

“Who are you?!” he demanded, looking from Chinen to me. “You are not the Chinen Yuri and the Yamada Ryosuke I know. What is going on here?!”

“Takaki-dono, calm down, please!” Keito called from where I had left him, getting to his feet with some difficulties. “This is not-“

“What is going on?!” Yuya called, in a sudden wave of panic. “Is this a complot?! Have you handed me over to anyone, Yuri?!”

“NO!” Chinen called loudly, shaking his head and taking a step towards Yuya, but he only took another step back. “Just listen to me, Yuya! I would never do anything to harm you, and no matter which time or place, that will never change.”

Yuya’s eyes rested on Chinen’s for a moment before fluttering to Keito’s and staying on them.

“Okamoto-Dono?” he asked quietly, as if asking for his help.

“I know this seems crazy now, Takaki-Dono” he nodded. “Believe me, I have been where you are now. But I am of the sure belief that those two are not here to harm us.”

“But what are they?!” he demanded, looking back to Chinen. “And where has the real Chinen Yuri gone?!”

“I am Chinen Yuri” Chinen said softly, and I could see his hand balling in an emotion unusual for Chinen. “Just not the one you know. I am coming from the future.”

Yuya blinked at that, before looking back at Keito, who shrugged helplessly, confirming his statement.

“What do you mean?!” Yuya demanded, looking back at Chinen. “What future?!”

“Hundreds of years forward” Chinen said quietly. “I’m not quite sure how much exactly, but something happened, and suddenly, I was here.”

“Same with me” I nodded, catching Yuya’s eyes. “I am sorry, I have no idea where your Gocho went. I really hope he is not in our time, though, because that will be a huge mess.”

Chinen flinched, as if imagining it, and Yuya’s hand finally fell from his Katana, much to my relief.

“I’m sorry that I am not… your Chinen Yuri” Chinen said quietly, and the emotion in his voice made me blink. “I wanted to tell you, I swear, but I was not sure how you would react, and then you-“

“Yes, now that you mention it – what are you doing here, Takaki-Dono?” Keito frowned, looking from him to Chinen. “Why are you-“

Yuya bit his lip, seeming distressed, and Chinen was obviously thinking of something to say, before I interrupted them quickly: “Does it really matter?”

Everyone looked at me, and it made me a little nervous, but I frowned as I continued.

“It seems like Yuya cares more about friendships than the war, and to be honest, I don’t think this is wrong. Half of my friends are supposed to be my enemies now, and I, for my part, am just happy to find as many people as possible who do not want to fight.”

Yuya blinked at me after I finished, and finally, he conjured the ghost of a smile.

“I never wanted this war” he clarified. “When you and Nakayama-Gosho started fighting… I did not want to break my loyalty to you, Gosho, but I never wanted this war. The guys from Nakayama-Gosho’s troop were as much of a family to me as our own. I spent most of my youth with Yaotome-Dono and Arioka-Dono. And Yuri…” He broke off with a short look at Chinen, before continuing. “I just wanted to find a way to stay out of this. To keep the people I loved out of this. But everyone was so fierce and I did not know what to do.”

“Well, none of us want this war” I pointed out, looking from Keito to Yuya to Chinen. “That leaves us on the same page, really.”

“What do you guys even know about the war?!” Yuya frowned, looking from me to Chinen. “You are not from these times.”

“But we are here now!” I pointed out. “We are here and there are fights and I think none of us want to see our friends hurt.”

“Right” Chinen nodded. “We might not know much about this time, but we know you guys, and you are important to us.”

“How?” Yuya frowned, looking at Chinen. “You don’t know me.”

“But I know Takaki Yuya from 2012” Chinen argued. “And I know that I would be plenty upset if everyone were to hurt you. And Ryosuke, Keito, Yuma, Yuto, Inoo-Chan – everyone in this is my friend, and even if hundreds of years lie in between, this is not going to change.”

Yuya seemed frozen at his words, staring at Chinen in a way that it seemed almost forbidden to watch them, so I looked back at Keito.

I had not known that there was anything going on between Chinen and Yuya, but meeting Keito’s eyes I thought that maybe, I understood a little of it.

“So…What are we going to do now?” Yuya said finally, breaking eye contact with Chinen before looking back at me and Keito.

His question reminded me about how I was just going to drag Keito away, and the fear flashed up in my mind anew, making me cross the distance over to Keito again to put my arm around his waist, encouraging him to lean on me a little.

“Let’s flee together” I said softly, and Chinen’s eyes went wide. “Let’s get away from this war. As far as we can.”

“Yamada-Gocho” Keito sighed, about to protest again, and if he had not been hurt I’d have kicked him for changing back to the polite address when Yuya interrupted him with a murmured: “Yes.”

I looked up at Yuya in surprise, and there was a weird longing in his expression, as if he had been thinking about this for a long time and now someone finally had read his wish.

“Wha- but Ryosuke!” Chinen said loudly, shaking his head. “I don’t think it is going to help anyone if we flee now!”

“But it will keep us from getting hurt!” I pointed out. “Don’t tell me you want to watch Yuya being hurt!”

Chinen flushed at my words, but continued arguing as if he hadn’t heard them.

“There has to be a reason to why we are here!” he pointed out. “We did not just randomly turn up here, Ryosuke, this all has to have some kind of higher meaning! And I don’t think we will be able to find our way back if we just hide from it!”

I flinched, because I knew he had a point there. For a moment, I wanted to answer that I did not care about going back to the present as long as I could safe Keito with it, but then I realized what that sounded like and it scared me a little.

When had I become so focused on Keito?

Our discussion was interrupted, though, by Yasuda Shota calling Chinen’s name. Chinen blinked and looked around until Yasuda appeared around a corner, freezing at the sight of both Keito and me.

There was a moment of silence in which I wondered if we were busted now, my arm tightening around Keito’s waist and my other hand swiftly going to my Katana, until Chinen said loudly: “Yasuda-Dono, they are no danger to us. Yamada-Gocho and Okamoto-Dono are not here to harm us.”

Yasuda blinked, as if he was not sure what was happening, before murmuring incredulously: “I thought Yamada-Gocho and Nakayama-Gocho-“

“You can say I had a change of mind?” I said hesitantly. “I don’t want this war. I want peace.”

“Well, that is… nice” Yasuda said slowly. “But that realization comes a little late, if I may say so, because now, we have real problems!”

“What do you mean?” Keito asked, blinking from next to me. “What problems?!”

“There has been an incident” Yasuda murmured, looking to Chinen. “Kitayama-Gocho sent the young Tanaka-Dono and Kyomoto-Dono over to our territory, apparently to spy on Fujigaya-Gocho. They did not make it to him, though. They crossed ways with Yokoyama-Gocho, and he killed Kyomoto-Dono.”

“What do you mean, he killed him?!” he whispered, dizzy for a moment as I saw Taiga-Kun’s face in front of my inner eye for a moment. “Kyomoto Taiga?!”

“Yokoyama-Gocho never has much patience with anyone” Yasuda said quietly. “I thought that was a well-known fact.”

It hit me like a wave of nausea, and for a moment, I wondered if I needed to throw up, before Yasuda continued: “Tanaka-Dono fled, but I think he must have told the story to your Daimyo by now. Ours is informed already, and it seems like he interprets the invasion of Kyomoto-Dono and Tanaka-Dono as an attack to our clan. He has announced a counter attack for tomorrow morning.”

“Counter attack?!” Chinen whispered. “You mean they are starting a battle?!”

“Yes” Yasuda nodded. “It’s too late for any tries of consolation, it seems. This war has officially escalated.”

Chinen seemed pale as he searched my gaze, and it was all I could do to hold onto Keito tightly to not collapse.


	14. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter held me up a long time bc FujiKita just refused to do what I wanted them to do -_-' Also, with this chapter, the story finally deserved the rating, lol.  
> Hope you enjoy it, it's Fujigaya's and Kento's POV this time.

Fujigaya’s POV

I looked around nervously, double checking if anyone had followed me on my way, but the woods were dark from the sunset and I could not make out anything in the shadows. All I could do was hope to be lucky.

The note Kitayama-gocho had sent me was half crumbled in my hand, and I silently cursed him for demanding me out that late at night in the current situation our armies were in. If we were caught together, both of us would have to fear for our positions, and maybe even more than that. After Akanishi-Gocho had changed sides, we seemed to be less than a step away from war, and I wondered how much longer Imai-Shomyo and Takizawa-Shomyo could keep the situation in check.

Finally I arrived at the small abandoned stable Kitayama had ordered me to. I had not been here since we all had been kids and it was okay to sneak away to places with members from Higashi no Chu. The stable looked still the same, more or less, apart from a few damages the weather conditions must have caused over the years.

I took one more careful look around, before slowly pushing the door open, peaking inside.

Kitayama sat on one of the turned feeding dishes for the pigs we had always used as benches, and he was not meeting my eyes as I entered, merely acknowledging my presence with a nod. I found a place on the feeding dish opposite of Kitayama, looking up at him expectantly.

“What did you call me for?” I asked, coming to the point straight away. “You know how dangerous it is to meet up these days.”

“I know exactly the perils of our situation” Kitayama groaned, looking at me with eyes so intense that they seemed to radiate heat even in the cold darkness. “It is why I am here.”

I raised my eyebrows, waiting for him to continue, and Kitayama sighed in frustration, frowning in a way that told me that he did not want to be here, did not want to say what he was going to say now. I knew this expression very well from when we were kids- he had worn it whenever he had been wrong (especially if it had resulted in _me_ being right), and whenever he had needed to ask for help.

“Tomorrow, I will send Yokoo-Dono and Miyata-Dono to join your troop in your trade with Kita no Gawa” he said finally, and I blinked, my eyes widening as his words sank in. “Takizawa-Shomyo reminded me that the deal had originally been one between both of our troops, and that letting your men go alone would be like a broken promise. No matter how the situations between our clans is at the moment, I do not intend to betray you.”

“That… is very honorable of you” I said slowly. “I did not count on your support, to be honest.”

“I know how dangerous the situation is, with Kimura-Daisho’s rebellion at the moment” Kitayama continued, his eyes sharp as they rested on my face. “Therefore I also expect you to take good care of my men. I am entrusting them to you, Fujigaya-Gocho. I expect of you to protect them like they were your own.”

I knew that he probably had a right to remind me of my responsibilities – after all, he was sending his men into a possibly dangerous mission, under my care – but something about his words set me off.

I stood up slowly, and Kitayama’s eyes followed my movements as I glared down at him pointedly.

“How long have you known me?!” I demanded. “What makes you think that I would let anything happen to Yokoo-Dono and Miyata-Dono?!”

“Better safe than sorry” Kitayama shrugged, and I narrowed my eyes, anger boiling up inside of me.

“If you don’t trust me, I don’t need your support” I spat. “Don’t send your men. We can do this by ourselves.”

“Stop it, Fujigaya!” Kitayama groaned, rolling his eyes. “This is not the right time for hurt pride!”

“This is not what this is about!” I yelled, making Kitayama glare in response. “I have not asked you for this!”

“I did not offer this because I thought you would be in need of it!” Kitayama snapped, rising to his feet as well. “I know that you are perfectly capable of defending yourselves, you and your whole troop! This is not what I wanted to say!”

“Then what did you want to say?!” I demanded.

Kitayama did not answer. The silence hung in the air as we glared at each other. Something about the way he looked at me made me feel slightly shivery, the feeling going all through my body.

I needed to close my eyes for a moment, trying to regain composure, but then, everything happened very fast. There was movement, and I had almost immediately reached for my katana, but before I could even touch it, Kitayama’s hands were on my shoulders.

I froze when next thing I knew, Kitayama’s lips were on mine. My head was spinning, and my first instinct was to push him away, but then, Kitayama’s fingers found my hair and he held me close, his lips almost aggressive, demanding as they moved against mine, and I could not help but respond.

It was like all tension in my body eased as I grabbed Kitayama, kissing him back with all I had, as if my soul had left my body and something foreign had taken it over, making me unable to control my actions.

The lust rolling through my body was so intense that I could barely keep track of what was happening. My back hit the wall of the stable, and Kitayama’s tongue found its way into my mouth, making me forget how to breathe.

Clothes were shed faster than my brain could catch up with, and when Kitayama’s hand found my erection, I groaned, thrusting into his touch. I was not sure why I was this aroused, or why it felt so good, but by now, my body just seemed to act on instinct, no instructions from my mind needed.

“Promise me to bring everyone back alive” Kitayama brought out, squeezing down around my shaft, making me arch my back. “Your men, my men… and yourself.”

I took a sharp intake of breath, and my own hand found its way into Kitayama’s halfway shed Kimono, finding his own reaction, making him close his eyes and bite his lip.

“As if I would let some stray Daisho kill me off” I murmured. “How long have you known me?!”

“Just making sure” Kitayama sighed, and then he was kissing me again.

Kitayamas hand began moving over my shaft, making me tremble in need, and with the last bit of will power I had left, I moved my own fingers to return the gesture.

I was not sure what was happening. I had never thought of Kitayama _that_ way - or any other man, to be completely honest. It was not even like I could call him a friend. He was the leader of an army rivaling with my own. He was the enemy. But at the same time, I had known him for so long, grown up with him, fought alongside him, learned alongside him, and being with him like this felt strangely right, not at all out of place. I trusted Kitayama, and his twisted way of showing worry for me had hit me in a weak point.

I could not think, could not make sense out of this as I let the pleasure take me higher, brush all my thoughts away until only the rough need for the other men was left, both to touch him and to be touched by him.

When I lost myself in my orgasm, it was all I could do to cling to Kitayama like he was the only thing grounding me to this life, together the stinging pain as Kitayama bit my lip when he followed me into blissful oblivion.

I could have sworn I heard a low “Taisuke” slip his lips, but I did not enquire further as I held onto him tightly, trying to stay in this blissfull little bubble for just a little longer.

***

I was a little disoriented when I opened my eyes, and needed a moment to realize that the reason my sight was blurred was not caused by the darkness around me, but by tears flowing freely down my cheek.

My whole body was trembling, and I could still feel my lips tingling from the way Kitayama’s had felt against mine, in this dream which was no dream at all, I knew it, but a memory of this body, of what the real Fujigaya Taisuke from this time had experienced.

It hurt almost physically and I pressed my face into the pillow, trying to stiffle my sobs.

I only perked up when suddenly, I heard loud noises from outside in the corridor, and quick, panicked steps.

I had just enough time to wipe the wetness out of my eyes until Senga appeared in the door, looking frantic.

“Fujigaya-Gocho” he called. “Kitayama-Gocho launched an attack on you!”

“An attack?” I repeated, my voice cracking pathetically. “What attack?”

“He sent Kyomoto-Dono and the younger Tanaka-Dono over the boarders. They were caught by Yokoyama-Gocho before they could get to you, though. Yokoyama-Gocho killed Kyomoto-Dono on the spot. Tanaka-Dono managed to flee back over the boarders.”

“He… He killed Taiga-Kun?” I whispered, feeling like a bucket of ice water had been emptied right over my head, but Senga did not seem to hear me.

“The whole residence is in an uproar. Nishikido-Daisho is in discussions with the Daimyo. I think they will settle an attack for tomorrow morning.”

“You mean… there will actually be a war?” I whispered. “But… Tsubasa-Kun said-”

But before I could even continue, Nikaido had called for Senga, and with one last unsure look towards me, Senga bowed and excused himself, leaving me to my own turmoil of emotions.

I had no idea what was happening, but I understood that suddenly, I found myself in war, and tomorrow, I had to face Kitayama, who would try to kill me because I had broken my promise to him.

I did not seem to be able to stop the tears.

Kento’s POV

My head was still spinning, and I was kind of hoping that I would wake up any moment and realize that all of this had been a messed up dream, and I was still in Fuma’s arms, because even if nothing was going the way it should between us, even if I wasn’t sure what Fuma felt for me, it was all better than _this_ , this fucked up mess of a reality that I did not quite understand. 

I tried hard to focus, but my mind did not seem to be able to process the words Kitayama was shouting at Takki, and then Ueda was hammering his fist on the table and interrupting them, and really, I wished Hokuto was here so he could tell me what was going on, because I had not the slightest clue. 

“Kyomoto-dono is dead” Marius had shouted at us a few hours later, seeming almost in hysterics. “Kitayama-Gocho sent him and the younger Tanaka-dono to receive a message from Yamashita-dono, but only Tanaka-dono returned. He keeps saying that they just lost their way for a moment and then they ran into Fujigaya-Gocho and apparently, he killed Kyomoto-dono. He is under shock and his older brother is furious and everyone is saying there will be a battle tomorrow!”

And it was the way that Marius had seemed almost feverishly scared, his voice shaking and weak as he had told us all of this, that had made me understand that we were actually in a _war_ , more so than Hokuto’s words and everyone’s shouting had done before. 

Because Marius was just a kid. He was twelve, and he was telling us that someone close to us had been killed, Taiga, soft-hearted and friendly and always helpful _Taiga_. Taiga had been killed by Fujigaya, the one Senpai he had always admired, and it was too much to wrap my mind around. I don’t know what had stunned me more - the trembling of Marius lips as he asked us if had to kill “Matsushima-Dono” if he saw him in the battle tomorrow, or Jesse’s face as he kept shaking Hokuto, asking him to tell him that Taiga’s death was a joke… All of it was just too much, entirely too much, and I never had wished for Fuma’s presence more. I could not think straight without Fuma around. 

It took not long after until I was called in by Ikuta Toma, informing me that the Daimyo was requesting all Gocho, the Daisho and the Shomyo to gather for a discussion about the situation, and now I was sitting here, between him and Uchi Hiroki, staring in something that felt like an impending panic attack at the way Ueda, Kitayama and Takki shouted at each other.

“How many more provocations are we still going to allow them?!” Ueda demanded. “First Akanishi, then the incident with Miyata-dono and Yokoo-dono, and now Kyomoto-dono - it’s time we act!” 

“Let me contact Imai-Shomyo before we jump to conclusions, for heaven’s sake!” Takki called impatiently. “Maybe it was a misunderstanding, and-”

“One of my men was killed!” Kitayama shouted. “I demand the head of everyone responsible!” 

“You have been demanding Fujigaya-gocho’s head ever since Miyata-dono and Yokoo-dono died!” Takki reminded him. 

“He let them die!” Kitayama shouted. “He just let them die, and now he killed Kyomoto-dono! Who will be next?!”

“How am I going to explain to my man that his younger brother was attacked during a simple carrier mission?!” Ueda shouted. “How much longer are we going to let Nishikido and his folk play us like we are his slaves?!”

“All of our minds are heated now!” Takki called. “I suggest we all calm down, and-”

“The time for politics is over, Takizawa-Shomyo, with all respect” Uchi spoke up from next to me, making me look at him. “Have you ever been there and actually tried to talk to anyone but Imai-Shomyo? I request you to try facing Yokoyama once, and you will see that we will get nowhere with your politics when it comes to him.”

“I agree” Toma spoke up from next to me. “I have prepared my troop for this case. It’s time we showed them that Higashi no Chuu is not their playball.”

“Our clans are partners!” Takki almost screamed, desperation making his voice crack. “Have been long before our grandfathers’ generation, and-”

“Times have changed, Takizawa-Shomyo” Kamenashi spoke up quietly, almost startling me with his voice because he had barely been noticable until now in his presence. “This situation has been impending ever since Akanishi joined forces with Nishikido. I agree, it is time we acted.”

Takki cursed, throwing a look at Domoto Koichi, who was sitting at the front end of the round, having watched the discussion with a dark expression until now, but refraining from engaging in it. 

He held Takki’s gaze for a moment, before slowly raising to his feet, making everyone fall silent to look at him. 

“Tomorrow by sunrise, we will attack Nishi no Jo” he announced with a slow nod at Kamenashi. “Prepare your men, and inform Yamada-Gocho, wherever he may be.”

I stared at him in horror, my eyes traveling back to Takki, hoping he would protest, but the expression on his face was one of despair, and, to my utter shock, _defeat_.

***

“Flee” was the first thing I told Hokuto and Jesse when I returned, making both of them look up at me in confusion. “Take Mari and Shori and flee. Get as far away from this battle as possible.”

“And you?” Jesse breathed, before Hokuto could even answer.

“I have to go and face Fuma” I whispered, terrified at the thought of going into a battle when I had never as much as hit another person in my life before. But nevertheless, I knew that it was true, that I would never find out the reason as to why I had traveled into this reality if I ran away. 

“If you are fighting, I will be by your side” Hokuto said firmly, making both Jesse and me look up at him. “I vowed to protect you when you became my Gocho, and I will not break that promise. We will fight together, and if necessary, we will die together.”

“No” I whispered, shaking my head frantically. “I can’t ask you to do this! This is not - Jesse, help!” I demanded frantically, but Jesse seemed frozen, his skin even paler than usual as he stared at Hokuto.

“You can send Inoo-Dono and Yo-Dono away, if you choose to do so” Hokuto continued. “Inoo-Dono is not part of our troop, and Yo-Dono is too young to be of any use. But the rest of us will stay and fight.”

I bit my lip, looking at Jesse again, my eyes pleading for his help, for him to drag Hokuto away if he had to, because he loved him and he would not let him die in this battle, would he?

Jesse seemed resigned, though, knowing that it was no use, that the Hokuto from this time would choose his loyalties over his life, and maybe, the Hokuto from our times would have even done the same. 

“I will go wherever Hokuto goes” Jesse whispered, looking at me. “Even if that means I have to die.”

I saw some emotion cross over Hokuto eyes, but I was too worked up to read it. My whole body was shaking, my knees wobbly as I got to my feet. 

“Where are you going, Gocho?” Hokuto demanded, but I just shook my head, not having the answer myself. I just needed to get away, to think, to breathe because I felt suffocated by everything that was happening and the people around me, so familiar and so different at the same time. 

I almost stumbled out of the door, and barely realized when I knocked into someone on my way out until there was a hand on my wrist, stopping me.

“...Ken...to…-kun?” A familiar voice murmured hesitantly, and I looked up in shock, blinking as I met Yamada Ryosuke’s eyes. He stared at me for a while, and something about him seemed almost soothing, even through all the confusion inside of me. Finally, he continued: “You are… Kento-Kun, right? Not Gocho or whatever.”

My heart beat fast as his words sank in, and I found myself nodding and reaching out to cling to his arms.

“You too?!” I whispered in realization. “It’s not only me and Jesse, you came from the future, too!”

“Jesse?!” Yamada called, his eyes wide. “I thought it was just me and Chinen!”

“Chinen?!” I repeated. “I - Yamada-Kun, what is going on here?!”

“I don’t know” Yamada groaned, his hand tightening around my wrist as he looked as desperate as I felt.

“There will be a battle tomorrow” I said automatically, remembering that Yamada had been absent earlier and that maybe he didn’t even know. “We are attacking Nishi no Jo.” 

Yamada’s eyes widened, and he just stared at me wordlessly, looking like I had just confirmed his worst nightmares.

“Wait!” another voice said, and I turned around to take note of Takaki Yuya and Okamoto Keito right next to us. “Is that true?! Did they already decide?!” Keito murmured, and Takaki looked at me like my answer decided over life and death, and in a way it did, I realized, at least for them. 

“Yes” I breathed finally, looking back at Yamada. “We are attacking tomorrow by sunrise.”

Yamada let go of my wrist, trembling as he leaned back against the wall behind him, and it was weirdly satisfactory to see someone as devastated about the news of a battle as me. 

***

I don’t know how long I sat there on this step in the garden of the residence, watching the sky with an almost numb feeling as I tried not to think, but occasionally, Fuma’s face would flash up in front of my inner eyes, and everything seemed to hurt. 

Ever since I had woken up in this time, I had wondered why this was happening. Why I was here, and why Fuma was not with me, and why people were being hostile and at war with the people they loved and why everything was just so generally _wrong_.

Sitting here, watching the night sky and the stars that could barely ever be seen nowadays in a city like Tokyo, I still had none of these questions answered, and I was not sure if I would live long enough to do so, either, once the battle tomorrow started.

But there was one thing that I was sure of, and that was my desperate need for Fuma. 

I had struggled with my love for him in the present, had cursed my bond to him and what it did to me, but now that I was here without him, confused and scared and lonely, I knew that, no matter what would ever happen in my life, Fuma and I belonged together. No matter if in this past life, or in the present one, or probably even in the one after, I needed Fuma by my side. 

And as soon as I got a hold of him, I would tell him this much, and make sure to never, ever let go of him again. 

I sat there unmoving until I felt Hokuto’s warm hand on my shoulder.

“Nakajima-Gocho” he said softly, squeezing one time, and his touch was strangely comforting. “Please sleep. It’s no more than a few hours till the sun comes up, and we need you to be rested then.”

My eyes traced the moon for a moment longer before I nodded.


	15. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!  
> New chapter, this time from Jesse's and Ryosuke's POV. Also, we finally get some more romance. I know I am neglecting the romance a little in this story ^^''  
> I hope you will enjoy it!

Jesse’s POV

I turned in my futon, feeling too restless to sleep here alone in this small tatami room without anything but this small lamp to glimmer softly so I could make out the way to the door. 

Hokuto had left a while ago to search for Kento-Kun, who had not returned ever since he had stormed off after meeting Yamada-Kun, and without his presence, my mind had the time to freak and to let the scenarios I had been trying so desperately to suppress spread in my head. Scenarios of blood and dead friends and things I had only seen in dramas or movies, things that I had never thought I would really be confronted with one day.

I just wanted to shut my eyes and push it all away, because really, it was no use to ponder over things I had no power to change. Part of me was still thinking that all of this was a dream and that maybe, when I died, I would wake up and Hokuto would yell at me a little for falling down the stage and everything would be fine. 

I startled when the door opened, turning around to glance through the dim light. 

“It’s me” Hokuto whispered, closing the door behind himself, and I relaxed slightly at the sound of his voice. 

“Did you find Kento-Kun?” I murmured.

“Yes. He is in his room now, though I doubt he will be sleeping.” he said quietly, and I could hardly see his face as he stared into my direction.

“Why do I feel like he won’t be the only one?” I sighed, rolling onto my back in frustration.

Hokuto did not answer, but suddenly, he was kneeling at my side, closer than he had ever voluntarily approached me in this time without a Katana in his hand, and I blinked as I found his eyes, glistening in the darkness as they were focused on my face.

“... Hokuto?” I whispered in confusion, but my voice was strangely breathless. 

Again Hokuto didn’t answer, at least not verbally. I did not stop him as he bend down, hesitating only for a moment, his breath ghosting over my face before catching his lips with mine. He kissed me softly but firmly, in a way that was so Hokuto that I felt almost numbed by the emotions it trickered for a moment, but not for long. When I wrapped my arms around his neck to pull him close, deepening the kiss, he let himself fall into it, and onto my body, his weight grounding in my mess of emotions. 

When Hokuto broke the kiss, he kept his lips on my skin, kissing down my jaw and my neck, and it made me feel shivery as I clung to his shoulders.

“Stop me” Hokuto whispered softly. “We shouldn’t be doing this.”

“Why not?” I inquired, my voice shaking a little at the soft brush of his lips against my collarbone. “We have done this tons of times in the present, and I have not regretted it once.”

Hokuto’s hand found my hair then, fisting it softly as his lips closed over mine again, pulling me into another deep kiss. 

He seemed almost desperate, and maybe this was his way of searching an outlet for all the fear and pain he was feeling, of trying to silence his brain and focusing on different things, things intense enough to make him forget that maybe, this was the last night he was spending in this life. 

I did not care what it was about, though, because being with Hokuto had always felt right, no matter if in this life or in the following one, so I just tightened my arms around him and drowned in the feeling of his lips against mine. 

I did not stop Hokuto when his shaking fingers started undoing my Kimono. Did not stop him when his fingers traced my bare skin, instead closed my eyes and allowed myself to drown in the familiar touch, so similar to _my_ Hokuto, and I wondered if I should feel conflicted because in a weird confusing way, I was cheating on Hokuto with a different self of him.

But then again, I had never been good at complicated, and it was hard to focus on anything with the way Hokuto was touching me anyways, so I just let the thought pass, and let it happen, let the feeling of Hokuto’s fingers and lips all over my body wash over me. 

Hokuto had always seemed sure of how to touch me, never taking the time to doubt, just moving instinctively whenever we were together like this, and this seemed to be no different. I was not sure if he had ever done this before, but there was no nervousness in it when his spit-slick fingers slipped into me, no hesitance as he gently tried to spread me open, just pure desperation and honest need. 

When he finally entered me, I felt a strange sense of home, so intense that I felt my eyes burn with tears I had not felt coming. I pressed them shut firmly, focusing on the way Hokuto moaned softly into my ear, and the rhythm he developed, slow but hitting me so deeply that it took my breath away.

“I love you” I barely managed to whisper, the words slipping out of my mouth without thinking, but Hokuto just scrambled himself up to catch my lips again, rather answering with actions than words, the way he always did. 

We reached the edge at the same time, falling together and catching us in each other’s arms, and Hokuto’s breathing and his warmth was what let me fall into the dreamless sleep I had so desperately longed for. 

Ryosuke’s POV

I had never felt as numbed by fear as I had in this very moment, and I didn’t know what to do. Everything passed me by like a movie, the resigned look on Yasuda Shota’s face, the almost desperate one on Nakajima Kento’s, and the way Yuya had grabbed Chinen’s hand before he had left, as if asking him to stay, to flee no matter what the consequences would be, only to not bring the words out and let go in defeat.

It was all there, sharp, clear and painful in my mind, but nothing could compare to the fear I was feeling myself right now. 

Yuma. Yuto. Daiki. Hikaru. How was I going to face any of them tomorrow, fight against them, possibly hurt them? 

I couldn’t. No matter if they were trying to kill me, no matter what would happen, there was no way I could fight against my friends. 

And then, there was Keito. Keito, who no matter how much I yelled at him to stay out of this refused to leave my side, and it made me feel helpless and crippled, unable to do anything to protect him.

“You are hurt!” I pointed out, my voice cracking as I suppressed the urge to throw the dinner he had brought me to my room right into his face. “There is no way you can fight like this!”

“I have no choice!” Keito called, and there was this fire in his eyes, the same I had seen when he had told me to not leave the band behind. “No matter what you say, I am not going to run from this fight! I will protect you!”

“I don’t want you to protect me!” I snapped. “I want to know that you are safe, damnit! I am your fucking leader so do what I tell you!”

“I refuse!” he called, and I balled my fist as I bit my lip, hard, trying to fight against the way my throat was closing up in emotion. “I swore to fight for you, and I will keep that vow, no matter what you say now!”

“Please” I whispered finally, my sight blurring with the tears I so desperately tried to hold back. “Please, Keito. I can’t lose you. Not you.”

“Then have some trust in me” Keito demanded, his voice softer now as well, and his eyes glued to mine. “Don’t write me off as dead before we have even started this fight. Believe in me a little.”

I took deep breaths, struggling to keep myself together, but then Keito whispered: “Ryosuke…”, and it was the use of my first name that made me break out into a pathetic sob, and the tears found their way down my cheeks. 

Before I could even blink, Keito was across the room, and his arms were around me, his hold on me firm, as if all of his hesitation had been washed away by the raw emotion, and it was all I could do to cling back to him. 

“If you die, I will come after you and kick your ass” I brought out, but my voice was weak and cracked and lacked the force of my statement. “I swear, Keito-”

“Then both of us will just have to survive” Keito said simply, hugging me a little tighter, and I burried my face in his shoulder, letting him comfort me for now. 

I was still hesitant to let go of him even when the tears had long subsided, and Keito had to remind me to eat three times before I finally let him pull away to look into my eyes. 

There was something in his gaze, something that touched me in a way I was unfamiliar with, like a hand that clawed around my heart painfully. 

“... You really should-” Keito began again, but I did not let him finish. I knew that I was kind of out of my mind, that I would have possibly never done this if I was not numb with fear, but then again, I had lately felt a lot of things for Keito that I had not felt for anyone before. 

When my lips closed over his, it felt like fire spreading on dry wood. It clouded my mind with everything I had so desperately tried to hold back, all these feelings for Keito I had not been sure where to place, even in the present, and it was all I could do to cling tightly to his shoulders and kissing his unmoving lips, praying for him to respond, because I felt like I would die if he kept me hanging here like this. 

Thankfully, Keito caught me, like he always did. His hands were cupping my face just when I thought I was being turned down, his lips melting against mine, and it was so intense that it almost took my breath away. 

We kissed until I could not think straight anymore, until no more air was left in my lungs and I had to pull away to draw in a gasping breath. 

Keito was as out of breath as me, but his eyes were on mine, confused, hopeful, unsure, and suddenly, the answer to his unspoken question came easy to me.

“I love you” I whispered. “I can’t believe it took me so long to realize.”

Keito only continues staring at me, but I did not need his response - my lips were back on his in a blink, and Keito did not push me away, if anything, he pulled me closer to him. 

My body developed a mind of his own then, my hands tearing at his Kimono and searching warm skin all on their own volition. Keito tried to protest at first, because after all he was still that loyal soldier bound by hierarchy and social standards, but I just kept kissing him, not letting his doubts spread, and when his own fingers found the bare skin of my chest, I knew that he had given up fighting his feelings as well.

“This might be the first and the last night we spend together” I whispered against the skin of his neck, making him shudder. “I want to feel you, Keito.”

Keito’s only answer was a breathy whisper of his name, and it was enough confirmation for me to gently push him onto my futon, aligning my body against his much bigger one, marveling how I felt almost wrapped up in his heat. 

My inexperienced touch was clumsy and desperate, but Keito did not seem to care, most probably did not know any better himself, but it was intense enough to make my mind spin with every brush of his fingers, every slide of his bare skin against mine. 

We did nothing more than rub against each other, really, too worked up to figure out how to go all the way, and when it all became too much, I alligned my hips with his and thrust against him, humping him as we kissed.

It was enough, enough to bring both of us over the edge after only a few minutes, and even after, I continued clinging to him, unwilling to let Keito go anywhere, not now, not in the morning, never. 

“I love you” I whispered again, but when Keito did not answer, I looked up to find that he had drifted off, the exhaustion of the last couple of days obviously catching up with him.

I reached out a hand to brush his sweaty hair out of his face, and he didn’t stir, so I lingered, letting fingers caress the skin of his cheek with featherlight touches, my eyes glued to his face. 


	16. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the battle finally begins.  
> I feel the strong need to apologize before this. You saw the warning "Major Character Death" up there, right? I meant it ;___; I am sorry. Really.   
> Chinen's, Jesse's and Kento's POV this time. The battle will continue in the next chapter.

Chinen’s POV

“Chinen-dono” Yuma nodded at me with eyes so intense that it scared me a little. “It is time.”

It was all I could do to nod, trying to hide my shaking fingers as Yuma turned to lead us outside.

I was not ready for this. I would _never_ be ready for this, to be honest, because how could you be ready to face a war? Especially if it was against most of your friends, including the person you loved. 

A small part of me, the one that was cowardish and probably still 11-years-old, wished that I had taken Yuya up on his offer last night. That I had just taken his hand and fled with him, to some place where we did not need to face hate and violence, where we could just be us. 

But I knew that it wouldn’t have been right, that no matter how scared I was, I needed to do this. Because whatever had brought me here had obviously directed me to this very moment.

I would never understand why I was here if I did not stay and face this. 

So I kept walking, my eyes fixed on Yuma’s back as we entered the back yard of the residence. 

Everyone was already out, and I almost stood to stare at everyone that had gathered. 

There were Imai Tsubasa and Domoto Tsuyoshi standing on the far end, talking to Nishikido Ryo. 

Next to him was a troop let by Akanishi Jin, including Ohkura Tadayoshi, Maruyama Ryuhei, and YamaPi and Yasuda, who were whispering among themselves. 

Talking to Akanishi I recognized Yokoyama Yu, his troop consisting of Shibutani Subaru, Murakami Shingo, Tegoshi Yuya and Masuda Takahisa.

Further down I spotted Matsumoto Jun, who seemed to be leading a troop of all Arashi members minus Aiba plus Nozawa Yuki, and I tried to honestly remember if I had ever seen him without Sanada by his side, and couldn’t. He seemed terribly lonely without him. 

Next I recognized Fujigaya Taisuke, who had his back turned to me. Next to him I could see Nikaido Takashi and Senga Kento, who were talking to him softly, and Yasui Kentaro and Jinguji Yuta, who were watching them in obvious nervousness. 

I had to scramble myself together to follow Yuma through all the people to where Yuto, Daiki and Hikaru were waiting. On the way, Yuma was greeted by an most intimidating Kikuchi Fuma, Kouchi Yugo close behind him, and farther back Totsuka Shota, who was talking to the very obviously terrified Matsushima Sou and Nakamura Reia. 

Seeing all these people here, ready for a fight against the persons that they were usually inseperable with, made me was to scream out into the mask and bring them all to their senses.

Instead, I kept quiet as I followed Yuma towards our troop. I knew that it was no use to act alone now; they would kill me faster than I could even explain myself. I just had to hope that somehow, by some miracle, Ryosuke and I would be able to bring them to their senses,though I was not quite sure how yet. 

Yuma had just nodded at Hikaru in geeting when everyone fell silent. I spun around to see that Domoto Tsuyoshi had stepped into the center, his face serious as he started talking. 

“This day has been appending for the last couple of years” he said loudly. “Years of provocation after provocation by Higashi no Chu, and finally, it is time to act. We are prepared to show them that Nishi no Jo is the strongest clan, and that Higashi no Chu has to kneel at our feet!”

The silence was almost numbing, and Domoto threw a look at Nishikido, nodding slowly. Nishikido bowed, and turned to face the army in front of him. 

“I expect you all to give your life for our clan!” he shouted, and his voice echoed through the grounds. “It is either victory, or honorable death. There is no in between.”

I bit my lip as everyone around me mumbled in agreement. This could not be happening, I thought frantically. I was not ready to see anyone in this round dead, neither from this side, nor from the one we were going to face.

“LET’S GO!” Nishikido called, and there was a loud cheer. 

The way over wide rice fields seemed long and tiring in my wound up state. I wondered why we were going that unfamiliar route when I knew that the border was actually that close, but figured that probably, battles were unlikely to be fought in the narrow woods I had crossed yesterday. 

And really, when we finally stopped, I could see a wide abyss in front of us, and on the other side, the traces of another army. 

I spotted Ryosuke immediately, close to Keito, behind him Kota and Inoo, and finally, Yuya. My hand balled into a fist as my eyes focused on his figure, and I could see even from the distance that he had found me as well, his gaze meeting mine. 

“Ready?” Yuma murmured, and I was not sure what to answer. No, I was not ready. Would never be. My knees were shaking so much that I was likely to collapse any moment.

I wanted to go home. 

“GO!” Nishikido shouted then, and everyone was moving, and I felt disoriented. Yuma was gone, and I lost sight of Yuya. The shouts and sound of sword blades meeting filled the air, and when I looked around, only four other people seemed as rooted to their place as me: Fujigaya Taisuke, Ryosuke, and not far from him, Nakajima Kento and Lewis Jesse. 

Maybe, I thought fuzzily, Ryosuke and I were not the only time travelers, after all. 

Kento’s POV

Everyone seemed to blur into each other as they started moving, and I did not know what to do, where to go, who to look at. I had seen Fuma from afar when his army had arrived, but then, there had been shouting and running and now I had no idea where he was, or where everyone else was, really. The only ones still close by where Jesse, who seemed as overstrained as me, and Hokuto, who was shouting things I did not understand.

And then, suddenly, Fuma was there, right in front of me, and time seemed to stop for a moment. He looked different, not only from the Edo hairstyle and clothes, but also from the look in his eyes, sharp and blazing and going through me straight like a knife. But still it was Fuma, undeniably, and it made me take a step towards him almost automatically, despite the Katana in his hand. 

“Fuma” I whispered, my hand reaching out for him without thinking, but before I could reach him, Hokuto had pushed me aside. I only narrowly avoided falling, and when I looked back, Hokuto’s and Fuma’s blades were crossed. 

It made me wake up enough to reach for my own Katana, clinging to it tightly as my eyes focused on Fuma again. 

I was not able to react, though, because in the next moment, there was a yelp from Jesse, and Kouchi was shouting at him that he was a traitor, but Hokuto was over to fight him off so quickly that I could not even move.

My eyes fell on Fuma again, and I raised my Katana just in time to defend myself from an attack.

“Fuma, please stop!” I called, somehow moving by instinct, as if my body remembered the martial arts I had never learned all by itself. “Please listen to me!”

“Trusting you was the worst mistake I ever made!” Fuma called, but there was something behind all the sharpness, desperation and hurt, and it clung on my heart like nails clawing down on it. “You ruined my life, Kento. You betrayed me, and I am never going to forgive you for it!”

“I would never betray you!” I called, groaning as my blade met Fuma’s again.”You _know_ me, Fuma!”

“I _thought_ I knew you!” Fuma called, shoving at me, and I stumbled. “I would have entrusted you with my life, and then you just went and sold me out! Can you imagine how that felt?!”

“Someone lied to you!” I called, trying hard to reach Fuma, because I knew that somewhere inside of him, somewhere under all this hate and bitterness, there was this bond we had always had. I just needed to find it and pull at it to bring us closer again. “Someone who wanted to break us apart!”

“And who?!” Fuma scoffed. “Only Kouchi-dono and Matsumura-dono knew of our relationship. Who was supposed to have spread it?!”

“I don’t know!” I called. “I don’t know, but Fuma, never once have I lied to you! Please believe me!”

There was something in his eyes, some emotion breaking through his facade, but he did not keep from attacking me, and I did not know what to do. 

Jesse’s POV

Everything was happening so fast, and I was not sure what to do. I could see Kento fighting with Fuma a few feet away, but then, I was distracted by Kamenashi shouting at Akanishi as he attacked him, and Ueda coming fort help, only to be stopped by Nishikido. Not far from them, there was a cry of pain, and I stared with eyes wide in shock at Ninomiya’s blade in Shintaro’s stomach. 

Everything was spinning as I saw Shin sink to the ground, not moving anymore, and then I noticed that there were other bodies down as well. I could see Tsukada not far from Shin, his eyes opened but unmoving, and then I saw Ikuta Toma, the Gocho of their troop, direct the sword against himself. I closed my eyes before I could see any more.

“Watch out!” I heard Hokuto call, and then I was shoved to the ground. 

When I opened my eyes again, Hokuto was on the ground next to me, his blade crossed with Yugo’s. 

“That has always been your problem, Matsumura” Yugo hissed. “You are too attached to people. It will cost you your life someday. Or today, to be exact.”

“There is nothing wrong in trying to protect the people you love!” Hokuto gasped, kicking out and hitting Yugo in the guts, who gasped as he took a step back. “You and your Gocho might have stopped believing in others, but I didn’t!”

“My Gocho is as much a fool as all of you!” Yugo chuckled breathlessly. “He has always trusted the wrong people. Still does.”

I stared at him, trying to recognize the Yugo I knew, the soft heartened, always smiling friend I could always rely on, but there was nothing of that in the guy in front of me, absolutely nothing. 

“It was you” Hokuto said finally, sounding as stunned as I felt. “You spread the information about Nakajima-Gocho and Kikuchi-Gocho. You betrayed your own leader.”

“This world doesn’t work with honor and promises alone!” Yugo yelled. “Without powerful relationships, you are nothing! And Nishikido promised me and my family things Kikuchi-Gocho could have never given to me!”

“That does not justify betraying your friends!” Hokuto screamed, getting to his feet. 

“What friends?!” Yugo demanded. “There are no friendships in war! We are all fighting our own battles!”

Hokuto almost snarled as he lunched at him, and Yugo stumbled backwards, knocking into where Fuma and Kento were still fighting and falling to their feet between them.

“There!” Hokuto called, making both of them look up at him. “Not Nakajima-Gocho betrayed you, Kikuchi-Gocho. The traitor was in your own lines.”

I saw Fuma freeze as he stared at Yugo, and for once, he looked like himself, like the Fuma I had met in the presence, and through all this mess I thought that maybe, this was a good sign. 

Kento’s POV

I had known that someone had betrayed us, but now, with Yugo lying to our feed and Hokuto shouting that it had been him trying to harm us, I felt like my head was exploding from the information. 

Yugo was one of my closest friends in the presence, and sure, no one was quite himself in this war, but the thought that Yugo had sold us out was too much for me.

It seemed to be the same for Fuma, because he stared at Yugo like his world was crumbling, like everything he had so desperately tried to cling to was suddenly breaking between his fingers. 

“... No…” he breathed finally, shaking his head. “Tell me it’s a lie, Kouchi-dono… tell me…”

“Oh for heaven’s sake, Kikuchi!” Yugo rolled his eyes. “Stop with this emotional shit, will you?! When has this ever brought you forward?! Your feelings robbed you of the title as Daisho already, how much more do you still want to lose by believing in people blindly like this?!”

I saw tears in Fuma’s eyes, and then, everything happened too fast for me to comprehend it: Fuma raised his Katana, and I was halfway ready to brace myself, before he sunk it right into Yugo’s chest.

I stared as Yugo gasped, and tears fell from Fuma’s eyes, right onto his face. 

When Fuma redrew his sword, Yugo was still, all life having left his body. I stared at our dead friend for a moment in horror, before looking up at Fuma. Tears were streaming down his cheeks freely now.

“I’m sorry” he whispered, and all I could do was stare at him, unable to even move. 

“Kento-Kun!” Jesse suddenly yelled, and I blinked, looking over my shoulder to see Yokoyama Yu approaching me. 

“Stop holding us up, Kikuchi, damnit!” he groaned, raising his Katana, and I tried to turn around to fight, but I knew that I was not fast enough for the way Yokoyama moved. 

I closed my eyes, expecting the pain. But it never came

Instead, hands closed around my shoulders and I was being spun around. Then, I heard Fuma groan. 

When I blinked my eyes open again, Fuma was standing between me and Yokoyama, eyes on my face. I needed a moment, to take note of the sword in Fuma’s back. 

“Kento” Fuma gasped breathlessly, and he flinched as Yokoyama redrew the sword from his body, cursing as he did. 

Hokuto was there then, fighting Yokoyama, but I could not pay attention to them as my arms closed around Fuma’s waist, holding him upright as he staggered. My hands were stained by his blood immediately. 

“No” I whispered, shaking my head. “No, Fuma, don’t-”

“I’m sorry” Fuma finally brought out, but his voice was faint. “For not believing in you. I was so stupid.”

I shook my head, tears blurring my sight as I sank to the ground with him, unable to hold him up any longer. 

Fuma’s shaky fingers found my cheek again, and he smiled as I met his eyes. 

“I have always loved you, Kento” he murmured. “I should have listened to you. You are so much smarter than me.”

“Stop talking” I said shakily. “I-”

But I did not come farther than this, because Fuma’s lips on mine stopped me. 

Fuma seemed to put all the strength he had still left in his body into the kiss, and I forgot how to breath, my head spinning, unable to deal with all the emotions pressing down on my heart.

When we broke apart, Fuma sank against me, and I hugged him close as I cried into his shoulder. 

“Kento” he whispered into my ear, and I think he wanted to say more, but then, he became still in my arms.

I just held onto him, not looking up, wishing, for a moment, that he could just take me with him. 


	17. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!  
> Second last chapter. I will apologize again. I *warned* you guys ;___;

Jesse’s POV

I felt numb, unable to do anything but stare at Kento on the ground, Fuma’s unmoving body in his arms, sobbing quietly to himself. All if this had felt surreal until now, almost as if I was stuck in a video game, but now, with Kento losing Fuma right in front of my eyes, it had suddenly turned painfully real, and I did not know how to deal with it. 

I wanted to approach Kento, but I knew that there was nothing I could do for him. There was nothing anyone could have done to comfort me had it been Hokuto dying for me, either. 

_Hokuto_. The name went through my like a knife, and I looked up, searching until I found him in the masses.

He must have shaken Yokoyama off again, because he was running back towards Kento, grabbing his arm to pull him into a standing position. Kento did not let him, though, clinging to Fuma desperately. 

“Gocho, you cannot stay here!” Hokuto called, but still Kento was shaking his head. “Gocho-”

“Let me!” Kento called. “So what if I am killed?! This world makes no sense for me anyways, especially without Fuma! Maybe if I die, I will return to my real life! So let me-”

I gasped when Hokuto stopped him with a firm slap into the face. Kento froze, looking up at him with eyes full of tears. 

“Kikuchi-Gocho died to protect you!” he called. “The least you can do for him is fight and not give yourself up! How do you think he would feel if he saw you now?!”

Kento just continued staring, and Hokuto tried pulling him to his feet again, this time succeeding. Kento only let go of Fuma hesitantly, laying him onto the ground gently, his eyes not leaving his unseeing ones. 

“There is a reason you are here!” Hokuto continued, shaking Kento a little. “Both you and Inoo, you did not come here to die. So please continue fighting.”

Finally, Kento nodded, and Hokuto let go of him with a sigh of relief, looking up to search my gaze, as if he had known that I had been watching them all the time. And he probably had, knowing him. 

***

Fujigaya’s POV

I did not know what to do. I stared at everyone running around me, shouting, blades crossing. So much had happened before I could even comprehend it. In a matter of _minutes_ , troop Arashi had literally _slaughtered_ troop Ikuta Toma, causing their leader to take his own life. KAT-TUN was fighting half of Kanjani8 plus YamaPi and Akanishi, and the other half plus Tegomass was fighting Uchi Hiroki and whatever was left of NEWS. 

Not far from me, I saw Jinguji stand motionlessly across from some fellow Junior, I believed his name was Iwahashi. The new kid that had joined Kikuchi Fuma’s troop after that Inoo kid had disappeared (I think his name was Reia or something?) was standing not far from them, just staring, none of them seeming ready to attack, and it clawed at my heart because they should not even be here, experiencing this. They should fool around backstage and go to Karaoke together afterwards and _not_ be in a fight.

“Flee!” I called, and all of them turned to me with wide eyes. “Run far, far away, okay! This is a command!”

Jinguji just continued blinking at me, even though he was in my troop and I knew he had to follow what I said, but that Reia kid just grabbed both of their wrists and ran, and I was relieved to see that the others followed. 

At least they would be safe.

I did not have any more time to ponder about what was going on, because the next thing I knew, hands had firmly grabbed my shoulders, and I was faced with Kitayama. 

_Finally_ , I thought, feeling almost relieved despite the sharp hate in his eyes. 

“Fujigaya” he groaned, and I could not help the smile that slipped my lips involuntarily.

“Mitsu” I whispered, and there was some emotion running over Kitayama’s face at the nickname, unusual even for my present self. 

I did not get the chance to say any more, though, because next thing I knew, Kitayama was moving his Katana.

I screamed as he rammed the blade into my stomach, holding onto Kitayama for support. 

“You left me no choice” I heard him say quietly, a little breathless, and I made an effort to open my eyes through the pain. 

“I am sorry” I managed to bring out, my voice faint. “I know I fuck up a lot. I will do better in our next life, okay?”

The confusion in his face almost chased away all the fierceness and let me see the Kitayama Hiromitsu I knew, and treasured much more than I liked to admit most of the time. 

It made me collect my last bit of strength to lean down and press my lips to his. I could have sworn that I felt him returning the kiss before my knees gave away, and my eyes became as heavy as my whole body. 

I opened my eyes one more time, catching the tear that was running down his cheek, before everything became black. 

***

Ryosuke’s POV

I was standing there in panic, desperately trying to find Keito, but I had lost sight of him some time ago while dodging Yuma’s attacks, and now I had no idea where he was. 

Not far from me, I could see Fujigaya lying on the ground, motionless, and I looked up just in time to see Kitayama run his blade into his own stomach. I wanted to reach out to stop him, but I was too late, and all I could do was stare as he collapsed over his bandmate’s body, obviously dead. 

“Ryosuke!” I heard Chinen call, but before I could turn around, I was shoved aside by Yuya. I lost orientation when I hit the ground, but then I was pulled up from Chinen. I followed his gaze to where Yuya was fighting with Yuma, as fierce as I had never seen him before. 

“You betrayed me, Chinen-dono!” he called, pushing against Yuya, who was more persevering than I had expected. “After all the trust I put in you.”

“I didn’t betray you, I just don’t want anyone to die!” Chinen called, grabbing my shoulder a little tighter in emotion. 

“This is war!” Yuma pointed out, shoving so hard that Yuya lost his standing. “Kill or be killed!”

As if to emphasize his point, he directed his sword against Yuya on the ground, but Chinen was faster, crossing blades with him determinedly. 

I was not sure what to do, if to intervene or not, but then I was almost run over by another fighting pair, and had to dodge. I looked up just in time to see Nozawa focus on Tanaka Juri, whose sword was lying a feet away, but before he could attack, Tanaka Koki ran a blade into his back. 

“Not my brother” I heard him murmur, but I was distracted by Sanada standing a few feet away, seeming weirdly lifeless as he watched Nozawa break down. 

“Yamada-Kun!” I heard a familiar voice, and I looked up just in time to see Kento fight off Yasui, who had obviously directed his sword against me. It only took a moment, though, before Hokuto joined him, taking over the fight, and Kento turned back to me. 

“Watch out!” he called at me, and I could see the blood all over his hands, making me feel sick.

“Where is Fuma-Kun?” I asked quietly. 

The light left Kento’s eyes for a moment, and I only looked at him in shock, because this could not be happening. 

“Don’t leave your loved ones out of sight” Kento murmured instead, meeting my eyes again. “I don’t want you to regret anything.”

A shudder went through me at his words, and suddenly, I heard Chinen call my name frantically. 

I turned around, and froze. 

I spotted Yuma, bend over a figure on the ground, blade sunken into the body in front of him… 

I needed another moment, to realize that it was Keito. 

“No” I whispered, shaking my head, and Yuma withdrew the Katana, making Keito flinch, his hand flying up to cover the wound in his chest.

“This is what you get for running from me, Yamada!” Yuma called, but I could not hear him, could not see him. All I could see was Keito.

I did not even realize that I was moving until I dropped to the ground next to Keito, reaching out to touch his cheek. 

Keito was looking at me, his breathing uneven, and my hand went to cover his on the wound, feeling blood stain my fingers as I did.

“No” I whispered, shaking my head at Keito. “You promised me not to die. You said-”

“I am sorry” Keito breathed. “Forgive me.” 

“ _No!”_ I said indignantly, and tears were blurring my sight as I cupped his cheeks. “No, Keito! You can’t do that to me! You can’t!”

Keito opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off with my lips on his. I kissed him desperately, as if I could keep him alive by doing that, as if this was some stupid fairy tale in which love was the key to everything, in which it could make everything alright again. 

But when I pulled away again, Keito was barely breathing, and his eyes were half closed, and I knew that I had lost. 

“I love you” I whispered, the tears slipping my eyes, hitting Keito’s face. He smiled, but then, his eyes closed, and when his hand under mine stilled, I knew that they would never open again. 

It was like the world stopped for a moment, and all I could do was stare at Keito in front of me, wondering why this was happening. Sure, maybe I had not done everything right in the future, maybe I had not treated Keito right, but this, this was just not fair. 

When I lifted my head again to take in my surroundings, though, nothing had changed. A few feet away, Akanishi and Kamenashi were screaming at each other, and Ueda and Nishikido were crossing blades. I could see Kei and Daiki fight not far away, and Hikaru and Kota. The only ones as frozen as me were Chinen, Yuya, Kento and, for some reason, Yuma. 

My eyes rested on Yuma, and a part of me wanted to grab my Katana and ram it into his chest, to finish him off like he had finished off Keito… But the other part of me, the more prominent one, could see the emotion in his eyes, could see the Yuma I knew somewhere inside of him, and it made me angry in a completely different way.

“What are you doing?!” I shouted, my voice growing louder with each word. “He is your friend, too! We are all friends! _What are you doing?!”_

Yuma looked up at me slowly, and I rose to my feet, approaching him fast and grabbing him by the kimono, katana forgotten in its scabbard. 

“Why are we fighting?!” I demanded, and the tears were everywhere, in my eyes and in my voice, but I did not care. “Why is _everyone_ fighting?! Why are we killing people we love?! It makes no sense! Why are we doing this?!”

I noticed the movement stilling around me, and it seemed like all of them stopped fighting to stare at us, and I forced myself to meet their gazes and let go of Yuma.

“All of you!” I called, looking from Kamenashi to Akanishi to Tegoshi and Koyama to Senga and Tamamori to Goseki and Kawai, none of them moving. “What the fuck are you guys doing! Whatever happens, nothing justifies how all of you are behaving. _Nothing!_ ”

There was no answer from anyone. They all just kept staring, and I wondered if any of them were even aware of the special bonds they all had, that kept them together even through various life circles. 

And none of us had never treasured it, not even me. 

“Enough with this emotional nonsense, Yamada!” I heard a voice, and I looked up in time to see Yokoyama approach me. I only looked at him, wondering if it was even worth the fight, when next thing I knew, Kento’s blade was in his chest, stopping him in his tracks. 

“You took enough lifes today” he whispered, and I just stared as Yokoyama turned to him, a last fire in his eyes as his grasp around his own sword tightened, and he flung it at Kento.

He hit Kento somewhere near the face, but I could not see if he was seriously hurt, and then, everything was moving again, people shouting, and I wanted to scream.

“Stop” I whispered. “Please.”

And then, everything became dark. 


	18. Chapter 17 [Last]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, we finally reached the end :D Thank you to all who stuck with me through this (despite my lack of speed and sometimes motivation), I hope you will like the end (if not, I am really, really sorry ^^'). Not sure if I am content but I never am with things as long as this one.   
> Anyways, it's done, where is my award? ^^'   
> (Now, enough nonsense talk, enjoy)

Chapter 17

Ryosuke’s POV

When I opened my eyes again, I was looking into Tsukada’s face. Only Tsukada looked nothing like when I had last seen him, no dark hair or samurai knot, instead _blond_ and in training clothes, and I froze as I stared at him, dropping the fake Katana in my hand to the floor with a loud clirring sound.

“Yamada-Kun?” the director asked, and all the movement around me ceased. I could feel the others’ eyes at me, and I could see Hikaru and Daiki and Kawai and everyone just with the appearance I knew them in.

My eyes met Chinen’s, and they were wide and shocked and hopeful, and it made me finally realize what was happening. 

We were _back_.

I whirled around, searching until my gaze fell on Keito. He was looking at me, too, his face worried and his posture slightly off as he balanced himself on his better foot, and I could feel my throat closing up at his sight.

Keito was alive, and safe, and there to hug close. 

And then I just crossed the distance to him and closed my arms around him. The tears fell the moment I had my face buried in his shirt and I could smell him and feel him and I wondered how I had survived without this before. 

I would never let go of him again. Ever.

Keito seemed panicked at my reaction. He stroked my back and called my name and asked me what was wrong, and I could hear others calling my name too, but I could not listen to any of them, too focused on Keito. I knew that this must seem strange to all of them, maybe like I was having a mental breakdown, but I did not care, just clinging to Keito tightly, sobs wracking through my body. 

***

Jesse’s POV

I felt the pain in my back even before I opened my eyes. There were noises, the dampened cheers of fans, and I blinked against bright light, trying to focus. 

“Jesse!” I heard Hokuto’s voice, and I felt gentle fingers combing through my hair. 

I turned my head a little to meet his eyes, flinching at how my whole body seemed to hurt at the movement. 

Hokuto was sweaty from the performance and in silly stage clothes, which I had never been as happy to see as in this very moment, because they told me that this nightmare was over. That I was back in the present, after all. 

"What the heck were you doing, Jesse?!" Hokuto called suddenly, more fierce than before. "Do you know how dangerous that was?! What could have happened to you?! I know you are often absent minded, but this is really going too far!"

"I am sorry" I said weakly, but I could see the emotion and the fear in Hokuto's eyes, and as bad as it sounded, it felt good to see it.

"’ _Sorry’_ he says" Hokuto groaned in annoyance. "I swear, Jesse, if-"

I cut him off by weakly pulling at his glittery blazer until his lips met mine. Hokuto's kiss felt soothing, though he was anything but calm, and I had the weird urge to laugh despite the serious situation. 

“I am really sorry” I whispered when I let go of him, smiling. “Also for making you worry over the last couple of weeks. I was a little insecure about some things, but none of it was your fault.”

Hokuto looked like he wanted to say something more, but then there was the noise of several discrete coughs, and we looked up to see Yugo, Taiga, Shintaro and Juri standing in the doorway, smirking. I had to gulp down the desire to jump up and hug all of them close, even Yugo, since the warmth in his eyes was such a huge contrast to the hate I had observed in that different dimension that it felt almost healing. 

“We don’t want to interrupt your moment, but we felt like we needed to kick Jesse’s ass a little, too” Yugo announced, and I blinked at them dumbly. 

“Wha-” I began, but was cut off by Taiga.

“None of us hate you for being popular” he said loudly, catching my eyes. “And much less for being together.”

“We all know this business very well” Juri shrugged. “If I learned one thing from my brother, it is that you can’t always choose your partners, but that all of it has some sense, in the end, even if we can’t see it yet.”

“Of course we would like to debut together” Shintaro murmured, making a face. “But we can’t influence what the old man decides. There is no need for you to feel bad about it.”

“I am sorry” I said automatically, my chest feeling heavy both from the weight of their words and the relief, and Yugo rolled his eyes.

“Stop apologizing” he smiled. “Do you think I’d still be friends with Fuma and Kento if I let stuff like that influence my friendships?! Just give your best and strive forward. We will do the same, as your rivals and comrades.”

I had to bite my lip, trying hard to suppress the tears I felt coming, and Hokuto smiled as he entwined our fingers. 

“That being said…” Taiga murmured, and Shintaro groaned: “Ugh, let’s go before they become all lovey-dovey in front of us, because then I might have to throw up, and I won’t be able to go back on stage again!”  
Juri made kissy faces at him as they departed, and Hokuto rolled his eyes before turning back to me. 

“And next time there is something wrong, you’d better talk to me!” he said firmly, frowning again. “I can’t look into your head, Jesse! You are not as transparent as I’d like you to be sometimes.”

“I did not want you to think I’m doubting our relationship” I murmured, looking at our joined hands instead of his face. It was hard, to be open like this, but if I had learned one thing from my little trip to the past, it was that Hokuto believed in me no matter the circumstances. All I had to do was put some trust in him. 

“I am not that insecure” Hokuto frowned, finally making me look up at him. “Maybe I don’t always know how to express it, but I know that we belong together. Like Yugo said, everything happens for a reason. And I believe that this thing between us is fate.”  
I closed my eyes, too stubborn to let the tears slip, and I could swear that I heard Hokuto chuckle before he leaned in for another soft kiss. 

***

Kento’s POV

I felt a sharp pain as Yokoyama’s blade grazed my cheek, not quick enough to withdraw myself, and a part of me hoped that he had hit me hard enough to make me follow Fuma to wherever he had gone.

When I opened my eyes again, though, the pain was not on my cheek but on the back of my head, and I felt myself pressed against a wall, blinking in confusion.

“Shit, I am sorry!” I heard Fuma’s frantic voice, and for a moment I wondered if I was hallucinating, but then, soft fingers cupped my cheek, making me look up into familiar brown eyes. 

Worry and guilt flew over Fuma’s face as his other hand came up to softly rub my scalp right where the pain was coming from. 

“Are you hurt? Damn, I did not mean to-” Fuma cut himself off with a gulp, and I just continued staring at him, unable to process what was happening. Maybe I had really died, I figured. But then I took in Fuma’s hair and clothes and it dawned on me that I was finally far far away from this place full of hate and pain and death, back to where I belonged.

“Nakajima?” Fuma asked softly, scanning my face. “Say something? Are you okay?” 

I was unable to answer, though, still frozen, letting the realization that he was safe wash over me. That he was _alive_ and talking to me, and before I knew it, tears were streaming down my face again, though I guess my eyes had never really been dry, only seconds having passed in this time while all the battles had been fought in this other reality. 

Fuma still seemed alarmed and helpless, but before he could ask for my well-being again, I had grabbed his shirt and pulled him close. 

My lips on his were desperate and demanding, and though Fuma tensed at first, seeming surprised by my move, he melted into me soon after, returning the kiss just as eagerly, his fingers buried in my hair and his other arm hooking around my waist, pulling me completely against his body. 

When we finally pulled apart, I was crying even harder than before, and Fuma seemed as lost as I had never seen him before as he hugged me tightly, and I pressed my face into his neck in a fruitless attempt to dampen my sobs. 

“I am sorry, Na - Kento” Fuma whispered, and I whimpered at the sound of my first name, going through me like a ray of sunlight, warming me from the inside. “I know I suck at telling you what you mean to me, but I never realized that you felt like _this_. I always just assumed that you understood without me spelling it out to you. Because you always seemed to see through me anyways, and I just…”

I wanted to answer, but all I brought out were incoherent sobs, and Fuma held me even tighter. 

“I love you” Fuma whispered, and his voice sounded weak and shaky as well now, almost distracting me from his confession. “I need you almost more than food and air, so don’t tell me that you want to leave me. I don’t know what I’d do without you. Like seriously… just don’t. Please.” His voice cracked at the last word, and it made me pull away to look at him. 

The tears in his eyes were the last puzzle piece I had needed, even more than his words, because other than me, Fuma _never_ cried in front of others. But still, here he was, terrified by the thought of losing me, and it gave me the confirmation I had always wanted. 

When I leaned up to meet Fuma’s lips again, both of us were kind of sobbing into each others mouth, but still, it was more perfect than any other kiss we had ever shared. 

***

Chinen’s POV

“Maybe we should just… call rehearsal off for today?” The director said slowly as he stared uncomfortably at Ryosuke crying into Keito’s chest. 

There was a round of low murmurs of agreement before everyone began to draw back. I threw another look at Keito and Ryosuke, Keito seeming completely overstrained and Ryosuke as done with the world as I had ever seen him (and I could not even blame him, considering what he had witnessed in the past), before looking around for Yuya. 

Yuya was talking lowly to Daiki and Inoo, and my eyes met Inoo’s as he smirked at me, obviously daring me.

I was past the point caring about Inoo or anyone else, though, and I saw him blink in surprise as I crossed the distance between us, reaching out to close my fingers around Yuya’s wrist. 

Yuya froze as he turned to meet my eyes, and I tried hard to ignore my racing heartbeat and the slight dizziness, instead bringing out, a little breathlessly: “Are you free tonight?”

Yuya blinked, before throwing a fleeting look at the other two BEST members, murmuring: “We were planning to go out for dinner, but-”  
“Nevermind” Inoo said quickly, smiling as if Christmas had come early, and Daiki glared at him, obviously seeing him as the cause for the loss of his money. Well, not my fault that they kept betting over their members’ love lifes. “Actually I was just putting off finishing the bachelor essay, so I will just go home and be a good student.”

Daiki snorted, but I chose to ignore them, instead focusing on Yuya’s eyes. His gaze was burning into me, and I felt a little insecure at that, but still managed to ask: “Is it okay if I come over, then?”

“Sure” Yuya nodded, and I smiled as I let go of his hand, standing there awkwardly for a moment before vaguely gesturing to the dressing room, causing all of us to move again. 

Gosh, what had I just gotten myself into?

***

Ryosuke’s POV

At first I refused to let go of Keito, just clinging to him desperately as he tried to break my embrace, but he was still bigger and stronger than me though he barely used his strength against anyone, and it was easy for him to disentangle himself once he really tried. 

I barely realized where he led me to - there were corridors and blurry faces as we passed them by, and occasionally Keito opened a door to peek inside. 

Both of us froze when we encountered Kento and Fuma in a tight embrace, both blinking up at us with tears in their eyes, and I almost had to smile as I met Kento’s gaze, knowing _exactly_ how he was feeling right now. 

Finally, Keito found an empty storage room and pushed me inside, closing the door behind us softly and turning to look at me again. 

“Ryosuke” he whispered, and I bit my lip, trying hard to bite down the sobs that were still wracking through my body. “What is wrong? Talk to me, please!”

“I am sorry” I barely brought out, my voice high and shaky and it made Keito reach out to me again immediately, squeezing my shoulder. “I did not want to neglect the band. I did not want to fight with you. I did not-”

“But we settled that” Keito reminded me, blinking. “We made up, didn’t we? So why-”

“But you are still hiding from me” I pointed out. “You keep secrets and avoid being alone with me, and I can’t take that! I know it’s my fault and I am sorry!”

“... It’s not your fault” he said hesitantly, seeming uncomfortable again at my words. “Sometimes it’s just better to not speak up, you know. To not make things difficult.”

“I don’t care about difficult!” I protesting, cutting myself off when Keito chuckled at that.

“You kept snapping at everyone because you are stressed out of your mind!” he reminded me. “You just started crying in the middle of rehearsals! And you want to tell me you can take any more complications?!”

“This and that are two different pair of shoes!” I called, because it was the truth. All the stress of schedules and solo activities had never seemed as far away as in this very moment. “I am not crying because of all the stress! I am crying because I don’t want to lose you!”

Keito frowned, obviously trying to comprehend how I had come to this conclusion, but I knew that he couldn’t, not without experiencing what I had just now. So I just took his hand, entwining our fingers and gaining his attention back in an instant. 

“You don’t need to understand it” I murmured softly. “Just do me the favor and accept my words as they are.”

“I still think you are overworked” Keito pointed out, and I snorted, squeezing his hand. 

“Think whatever you want” I shrugged. “It doesn’t change what I am feeling.”

“Then _what_ are you feeling?” Keito enquired, shaking his head. “I don’t understand, Ryosuke. All this time, I just…”

“You what?” I prodded when Keito did not continue speaking. “Tell me.”

Keito took a deep breath, and he seemed scared as he continued: “ _I_ was afraid of losing _you_. You were so focused on your career and your solo activities and I just… I was afraid that you would leave us behind. Leave _me_ behind. That you would go to a place where I can’t reach you anymore.”

“That will never happen” I said indignantly. “JUMP is an important part of my life. And so are you.”

“YamaPi said he would never leave NEWS” he said airily. “And Akanishi probably told Kamenashi that they would always be friends, too.”

“I’m not them” I insisted. “Keito, do you still not understand? There is more connecting me to you than just the band.”

“And what?” Keito whispered, and his question was so honest, so urgent, that I knew it was no provocation, no calculation behind it, but Keito was never like that, anyways. He was honest and pure in a way that sometimes stunned me, but was fascinating and comforting at the same time. 

“I love you” I whispered, all strength leaving my voice as I finally admitted it out loud, and Keito’s eyes widened. “You are important to me, Keito, and I am sorry if I did not show that to you in the past. I will do better from now on.”

Keito did not say anything, seeming to have frozen, and I squeezed his hand in slight desperation, not dealing well with the silence. 

It took all of my courage to step this tiny bit closer to him and to bring my hand up to cup the back of his neck. Keito blinked, but did not put up any resistance as I gently pulled him down to my height, stretching the last bit to press my lips against his.

My heart was racing in my chest, and I had trouble breathing, my whole body shaking from the force of my feelings. Keito’s lips moved against mine, though, softly and tentatively, but he was clearly returning the kiss, and it made the annoying tears sting in my eyes again, though I kept my lids firmly closed, not allowing to let them slip. 

When we pulled away again, I kept Keito close, just pulling back enough to look into his eyes. 

“I love you” I repeated. “I need you by my side.”

It seemed to be what Keito needed to hear, the reassurance that he was wanted, that he was not just a nuisance, and I should have known that this was what bothered Keito most, because he had never had enough self-esteem. 

When he connected our lips again, his lips were much more demanding, and I let myself fall into it, wrapping both my arms around him with the firm resolution to never let go of him again. 

***

Kento’s POV

I was barely conscious of the way home. There had been something about cancelled practice and new schedules, but I could barely process it and was thankful that Fuma handled everything by himself, keeping me out of it. It was all I could do to make myself stop crying before we left the agency. 

Fuma behaved completely different after my breakdown, always keeping a hand on my shoulder even while in public, and that he had not pulled away from my embrace when Keito and Yamada had burst into the room earlier showed me that apparently, he had stopped caring what other people would think about our relationship. 

My parents were not home when we arrived, and I was glad about that, because my mother would probably have had a heart attack at seeing me return too early and with puffy eyes. Fuma still let me get out of my shoes and jacket and get some water from the kitchen, but as soon as I had closed the door to my room, his arms were already around me, pulling me tightly against his chest. We just stayed like that for a moment, hugging in silence, and it felt so good just to be like this, for once, without any urgency, just the intimacy of each other’s embrace. 

“I’m sorry” Fuma said finally, squeezing his arms around my shoulders. “I never wanted you to feel insecure about us, really. I know I have difficulties with expressing my feelings, especially if I am stressed like I am at the moment. We have the butai, the album promos, and new years concerts ahead, and I still have to prepare for graduation exams and Uni entrance exams, and I just… I know I did not put a lot of effort into this relationship, or into _you_ , because of that. If I had known that you were doubting me so much, I would have done that differently… I am sorry.”

“I just” I breathed, burying my face in his shoulder, not caring that my voice came out muffled as I continued. “We always had this bond, and I wanted to believe in it, but… You kept holding your distance from me when others were around, and even when we were alone, we barely did more than sleep with each other, and-”

“Because when I touch you, I can relax, and it makes me feel good” Fuma interrupted me. 

“But there are other ways of giving intimacy too” I said slowly, trying to put what I had been feeling all these weeks into words. “For example _this_ ” I elaborated, squeezing his waist pointedly. “Or cuddling and sleeping in each other’s arms, not disappearing immediately to catch the last train. I mean… I don’t want you to spoil me, but-”

“Of course you want me to spoil you” Fuma chuckled, but he pressed his lips to my temple softly as he said it. “But I guess it’s fine, since it’s you. I knew you’d be a handful of work when I fell in love with you. Sorry for not doing my job properly until now.”

I made a dissatisfied noise, not sure if I liked being called work-intensive, but when Fuma pulled away to smile at me softly, I thought that maybe, it was okay. 

“So, I know you want to cuddle and all” Fuma said slowly. “But are you going to push me away if I kiss you? Because this would be the perfect time for make-up sex.”

I rolled my eyes, but could not help but smile, and Fuma seemed to take this as consent, stroking my cheek and pulling me into a soft kiss. 

This had always worked well between us, this physical contact, but even that seemed more intense now, or maybe it was just my imagination because now that I knew what Fuma felt for me, I could feel it in his caresses, the gentleness with which his lips brushed mine, and the affectionate touches. And after everything that had happened, both in this time and in the other where I had had to watch Fuma die in my arms, it felt so overwhelming to be kissed like this, like I was the only thing that mattered to Fuma, that I could not stop the tears from welling up in my eyes again. 

Fuma held in when one of them slipped and hit his fingers on my cheeks, pulling away to look at me again, his eyes wide. 

“Kento, _no_ ” he murmured, pain in his voice as he brought his other hand up to cup my face in both hands, wiping the tears strains with his thumbs. “Stop crying, please! I can’t take this!”

I wanted to answer, but I only brought out some strangled sob, and Fuma sighed, his troubled face the cutest thing I had ever seen.

“I will never be able to keep up with your emotions” he murmured, and when I shrugged awkwardly, he pulled me in another kiss. 

I could not really stop my tears, but the more I cried, the more Fuma seemed intent on distracting me. His lips wandered from my mouth over my face, catching my tears, along my jaw and down my neck, pulling at my shirt when he met cloth instead of skin. 

It progressed naturally like that, Fuma softly pushing me onto the bed and covering my body, light touches joining his kisses, appreciating me with a patience and thoroughness I was not used to from Fuma. I just let myself fall into his care, every touch seeming to heal the wounds I had been carrying around for the last couple of weeks, making me feel complete again. 

Fuma took much more time for foreplay than he usually did, almost celebrating it in a way that made me believe the ultimate goal was touching me more than just getting off. It were the light touches that made me shudder the most, palms smoothing over my arms or tickling fingers at the back of my knee, areas that were mostly neglected but felt much more sensitive than I ever would have thought. 

When Fuma rummaged for the lube, I did not expect him to press it into my hand. 

“You want me to prepare myself?” I murmured, frowning a little, but Fuma shook his head quickly, his face flushed as he murmured: “I want you to do it to _me_.”

I only blinked, my eyes widening at that, blurting out: “But we never…!”

“I know” Fuma breathed. “That’s why…”

I was still staring as Fuma sat up to get out of his underwear, the last piece of cloth still left between us, and planted both knees firmly on each side of mine, straddling me and leaning down to kiss me again. 

He did nothing more than that, obviously waiting for me to catch on, and my fingers were shaking as I finally opened the lube and squeezed some into my fingers. I spread it carefully, and when I brought my slick fingers to his entrance, slowly circling the twitching ring of muscles, Fuma’s only reaction was to deepen our kiss, his tongue stroking mine leniently as if to distract himself from what was happening further down. 

He was tight when I carefully pushed a finger inside, clenching down on me vehemently, and I knew that this was effort for him, giving himself into my hands like this, but I appreciated the gesture, showing me more of what I meant to him than any of his words.

Fuma opened up for me slowly, knuckle for knuckle, finger for finger, and it took much longer than when he prepared me, but this was not what this was about, and I was happy to see this side of him, treasuring all the little shudders and moans that slipped Fuma’s fragile control. 

When I finally found his prostate, Fuma moaned out loud, clinging to me in obvious desperation when I traced it purposefully with my fingertip. 

“Kento” he whimpered. “Oh god… Please…”

“Okay?” I whispered, and Fuma nodded vehemently, sighing when I finally redrew my fingers.

I pulled up my knees then, trying to find leverage, and Fuma sat up, balancing himself with one hand on my thigh, the other hand going for the lube. 

I moaned lowly when Fuma lubed my length thoroughly, stroking it for a few times before leading it to his entrance. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he started lowering himself. 

I was pretty sure that he was going faster than was comfortable for him, but I was too overwhelmed by his heat and his tightness engulfing me to stop him, and before I could get a grip of myself he I had already bottomed out and Fuma was sitting completely on my lap, groaning as he shifted and shuddered.

“Oh god” he whispered. “Oh god…”

“Come here” I barely brought out, and Fuma nodded fuzzily as he let himself fall forward, being caught in my arms. 

We embraced each other tightly as Fuma got used to the feeling, his face pressed into my neck and I was a little worried if he was getting enough oxygen, but he did not seem to care. 

“Okay?” I asked after a while, my hands shaking with the strain of holding back, and Fuma made a vague sound of agreement, fisting my sweaty hair as if to brace himself. 

The first thrust of hips was controlled and careful, gauging Fuma’s reaction, but as he just found my lips for another kiss, breathless and messy, I became more confident. 

The angle was weird and it was hard for me to create a rhythm, but soon Fuma pulled himself up on his elbows and moved with me, and then it became easier. With the change in position, I was also finally able to reach his prostate, and Fuma moaned loudly, unusually vocal today. 

“Kento, I am so close” he murmured, pulling at my hair, making me groan in a feeling that had nothing to do with pain. “Oh god!”

“Do you want me to-” I brought out between parts, but even before I could finish the sentence Fuma called out, clinging to me as he came onto my stomach. 

The tightness around me became unbearable, and I barely managed two more thrusts before I followed after him. 

None of us spoke or moved as we came down from our highs, and only long after our our breathing had evened out and the shivers and aftershocks had subsided, Fuma raised his head to meet my eyes. 

He stroked my sweaty hair out of my face, licking his lips once before murmuring, very quietly: “I love you. I know I am difficult sometimes, and I will try to do things better from now on, but I hope that you have at least realized this now. When you feel insecure the next time, just tell me, and we can work it out together, okay?” 

“Okay” I smiled, and as Fuma kissed me, I wondered if that was the lesson I was supposed to learn from my trip into the past: That no matter how hopeless the situation seemed, if we only talked and listened to one another, there was nothing that couldn’t be solved between us. 

***

Fujigaya’s POV

When I opened my eyes, my head was hurting, and I was annoyed for a moment because this was death, I was not supposed to be hurting anymore, was I, but then the bright light around me turned to cameras and shiners, and I felt something heavy move on top of me, something warm and familiar, and I had to smile as I realized that this was not death at all, more the contrary instead.

When Kitayama began to recite his lines, I answered automatically, without thinking about it, and the smile was real, not acted. 

I caught Kitayama when the scene was done, on the way to the toilet. He yelped and was probably ready to punch me as I pushed him into the wall, mouth opening to snap at me, but then, my lips closed over it, silencing him.

He returned the kiss as if on instinct, and I was surprised at how well we fit together, and how good it felt. Fate could be a strange thing, sometimes. 

“Is this a joke?” was the first thing Kitayama asked when I pulled away. “Are there cameras?”

“No” I sighed, rolling my eyes.

“Then have you hit your head so hard?” he frowned, watching my face for any signs of damage, and I snorted.

“Pretty hard, yeah, you fatass” I shot back. “But it’s not what this is about.”

“Then what _is_ this about?” Kitayama demanded.

I smiled before I said quietly: “I made a promise to an old friend that I have to keep.”

Kitayama’s eyes narrowed, obviously not understanding a word of what I was saying, but I was unwilling to give any more details, and when I connected our lips again, he did not fight me.

***

Chinen’s POV

“You can already sit down in the living room, I will get plates and water” Yuya announced, disappearing into the kitchen, and I nodded as I toed off my shoes and tentatively made my way through the apartment.

I had only been here one time with the rest of the band, shortly after Yuya had moved in, and it had changed a lot since then, furniture having been added and moved and the rooms looking more occupied and lively now, not as sterile as they had back then. 

I carefully moved a stack of washed clothes from the couch to a table across the room before sitting down on it, eyeing the mail and bills that were spread over the couch table. 

“Sorry” Yuya murmured as he entered, carefully putting the plates and the bags of take out we had brought onto the table before collecting all the papers. “I did not expect visitors tonight.”

“Sorry for bursting in” I murmured nervously, but Yuya shook his head, neatly stuffing the things into a shelf before putting out the plates and dividing our food. 

I was thankful for the food because it calmed my nerves and gave me an excuse to not talk for a while. Yuya turned on the TV and we ate in silence while watching VS Arashi. 

By the time the show was done, though, not even Ohno was enough to distract me from my nervous fumbling, and when I decidedly put the empty plate and the chopsticks away before I picked someone’s eye with it, Yuya looked at me curiously. 

“Do you still want to watch something else, or…?” Yuya asked, and I opened my mouth, trying to find an answer.

“I like you” I blurted out, eyes widening at my own words, and Yuya blinked, looking at the TV in confusion as if trying to decide if there was actually a show with that name on somewhere and where to find it, before reluctantly turning it off.

“I guess that means no” he said slowly, and I took a deep breath. 

“I have been in love with you ever since France!” I continued, figuring that I could not make it worse than it already was. “And if he weren’t nearly twice my size I would kick Juri’s ass, and-”

“Chinen” Yuya said in a warning voice, but he was laughing, and I was not sure if that was a good sign. 

“... Yes?” I murmured, bracing myself, and Yuya grinned. 

“I kind of knew” he chuckled. “Even before Inoo kindly tipped me off.”

I stared at him, not quite knowing what to say apart from that I would strangle Inoo the moment I got him between my fingers (he was taller, too, but he had zero muscles, and I could jump high), and then Yuya continued: “I was wondering if I should say something, but then you seemed so mad, and I was not sure what I had done. So it was Juri. That makes sense.”

I blushed deeply, tempted to just get up and leave the room and join a traveling circus, but then Yuya moved closer, and before I knew it, I was pulled into a hug.

Yuya’s embrace was firm and warm and it kind of soothed my frustration away, making me sigh softly as I leaned my head against his shoulder and closed my eyes. 

“I like you, too” Yuya said finally, his voice so soft it made me smile. 

“You could have said that earlier” I complained, and Yuya was grinning as he pulled away to look at me.

“Sorry” he chuckled, but he merely looked amused, and I could not really hold it against him. A ridiculous amount of butterflies was roaming in my stomach like I was your average middle school girl with a crush, but I did not care because Yuya liked me and the rest was irrelevant. 

“You can make it up by kissing me now” I mused. “You know, since I had to be all grown up and confess and stuff.”

“Very grown up” Yuya teased, and I glared like the spoiled brat I was.

Yuya was chuckling as he leaned in, but as soon as our lips met, all the teasing was forgotten. Yuya tasted of the food he had just had (Indian Curry and some Tandoori Chicken) and something that was purely _him_ , and it was addictive, making me deepen the kiss immediately to taste infinitely more of it. 

I had always been impatient and greedy, and apparently Yuya was not an example for that, because the longer we kissed, the more of him I wanted. Soon deep kisses did not suffice anymore, so I started to let my hands explore, but the clothes in the way frustrated me, so I slipped them under the hem of his shirt, needing to feel skin. 

When even that was not enough to still my thirst, I climbed into his lap, craving for body contact, and Yuya moaned into our kiss as I straddled him. 

“Yuri” Yuya whispered, and the sound of my first name from his lips _in this tone_ made me shudder. 

“I want you” I murmured, pointedly grinding my hips against his, feeling the hardness in his pants align with mine through our clothes. 

Yuya only made a vague noise, and I was not sure what to make out of it, until he dislodged one of his hands from my hips and began to unzip my jeans. 

I groaned when his fingers stroked me through the material of my jeans, pulling away from his kiss to look at me, and I held into his shoulders as I rocked my hips into his touch. 

“You are so impatient” Yuya murmured, laughing a little. 

“Shut up and stop teasing” I snapped, so aroused that it was frustrating. 

I was glad to find out Yuya listened well enough, and when his fingers slipped into my underwear, I was unable to think straight with the pleasure that ran through me. Yuya’s hand was large and warm and his grip tight and perfect, and I moaned as I leaned my head against his shoulder again, moving my hips with his strokes. 

“You look so good like this” Yuya whispered, as if he was sharing a secret with me. 

I only hummed, unable to form an answer. It did not take much of this until I felt the warmth pool in my belly, and I wanted to warn Yuya, but then his fingers brushed over my tip and it all snuck up on me faster than I thought. I came with his name on his lips, and Yuya pulled me into his arms, holding me close as I tried to catch my breath.

“Satisfied?” he asked, his amused tone breaking through my clouded mind and making me laugh.

“For now” I chuckled breathlessly, squeezing his shoulder. “Though I should still take care of you.”

“... Only if you want to” Yuya murmured, though the intake of breath when I palmed him through his pants spoke another language. 

“Shut up, I’ve been wanting to do this for months” I uttered, my hands shaking a little as I tried to get him out of his pants and underwear as efficiently as possible, even if that meant I needed to get up. 

I did not climb back into his lap, though, instead settling on his floor, making Yuya blink down at me in confusion.

“What are you-” he began, but cut himself off with a moan when I stroked him once from tip to base, making his thigh tense under my fingers. 

“Shut up” I repeated, amused and smug about the power I had over Yuya in that position. I nudged his knees slightly apart, slipping between them and throwing one more look at his face, glad to see his eyes following my every movement, before leaning in. 

I had never done this before, but Yuya’s soft moans guided me, and I met his eyes every so often when I looked up and the expression in them made me feel more ecstatic than a sold out Tokyo Dome concert could. 

Yuya’s orgasm made me shiver as well, getting to me in a way I had not thought possible after just having gotten off myself.

I did not leave him time to come down from his high before I was back in his lap, kissing him deeply.

“Again?” Yuya murmured when I let him breathe, making me grin.

“You have no idea what you have just gotten yourself into” I warned, but Yuya seemed only mildly alarmed when I leaned in again. 

***

Ryosuke’s POV

“He is not crying” Hikaru announced when he entered the dressing room with Daiki the next morning, making me roll my eyes at him as I continued to style my hair. “And he is not screaming at anyone. So that means we will have rehearsals today?”

I was just about to snap at him, but then I was distracted by Keito entering the room behind him, my face immediately breaking out into a smile, making Hikaru and Daiki blink at me in confusion.

“Damn, how does Inoo win _all the bets_?!” Daiki grumbled, and I rolled my eyes. 

“I have no idea what you are talking about” I lied, but the not-so-secret smirks Keito and I exchanged told another story. 

“Young love, how nice” Hikaru sighed, sounding like the grandpa of the band, and I decided to quickly wander off somewhere before Yabu turned up and they would start gushing about how much their kids had grown up. 

The way to the vending machine was weirdly eventful. First I almost bumped into Hokuto, who was running around the corridors in disorientation, claiming he was searching for Kento. 

“He has not been answering my mails for a week, and I am a little worried” he told me as I offered to walk him to the dressing room. “Has anything been going on?”

“Maybe he was heartbroken because he and Fuma were rocky or something” I mused, trying to count together what I knew both from the past and the present, barely realizing when Hokuto stood to stare at me.

“Kento and Fuma?!” he asked incredulous. “What do you mean?! Did I miss something?!”

“... _Oh_ ” I murmured. “You did not know that.”

Hokuto was kept from saying anything more when we heard laughter from the hallway, and turned to see Fuma and Kento walk towards us, too distracted by their animated discussion to notice us. I took in the honest smile on Kento’s face for a moment, and it made me smile, too, glad that his problems seemed to have been solved as well last night. 

“ _You two hooked up_?!” Hokuto called reproachfully, making both Fuma and Kento freeze and notice us. “ _Why_ did you not tell me?!”

“How do you _know_?!” Fuma blinked, and I smiled uncomfortably as his eyes fell onto me. 

“Sorry?” I murmured, and Kento was just opening his mouth to respond when his phone rang. He held in to pull it out as Fuma tried to explain to Hokuto that they kind of, sort of, had been together for a few months, and I wondered if it would be safe to steal away when Kento picked up, murmuring quietly into the speaker: “Jesse, can I call you back in a few minutes?”

That made both Fuma and Hokuto hold in, and when Kento had hung up, he felt all pair of eyes on him.

“What?!” he asked in confusion, but Hokuto crossed his arms, glaring at him.

“You haven’t answered my mails for _ages_ ” he pointed out suspiciously. “And since when are you in contact with my boyfriend?”

“I want to know that, too” Fuma frowned, and Kento seemed a little stressed, looking at me for help, but I had no idea either how to explain to the others that all these developments had happened in a sphere none of them could remember. 

So the only thing I could think of saying was: “Kento-Kun, I need to talk to you!” That seemed to only confuse Hokuto and Fuma more, but Kento nodded thankfully and followed me down the hall, towards the vending machine I had originally aimed for. 

“Thanks” he murmured, and I chuckled, shaking my head.

“Try to not accidentally tell them that we’ve all traveled to the past” I advised. “Plus for our sake and for the sake of some of our friends… I for my part don’t want to explain to Yuma that he killed Keito” I added with a grimace, and Kento nodded with a sigh. 

He opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a loud: “WAIT, YOU GUYS WERE THERE, TOO?!”

We turned in surprise, staring back at an incredulous Fujigaya Taisuke at the vending machine, coins still in hand and raised to insert them but frozen in the movement. 

“... Oh” I frowned, remembering the scene I had witnessed in the past with Kitayama and him. Now that I knew, this kind of made sense. “Yeah, us and Chinen and Jesse.”

“WHY DID NOBODY TELL ME A THING?!” Fujigaya demanded, and Kento and I looked at each other helplessly, but I was kept from answering when I heard Yuto call my name. 

“Ryosuke, the management is calling us!” he yelled, freezing when he saw Fujigaya look positively livid. “Um…”

“I’m coming” I called, throwing an apologetic look at Kento, who pleaded me silently to not leave him alone with the mad Senpai, but well, better him than me, I thought with some relief as I followed Yuto down the halls. 

“What was that?” Yuto enquired, but when I just shrugged, he dropped it.

We entered the dressing room one moment before Chinen and Takaki stormed in, looking out of breath and frantic.

“You are just in time” Inoo welcomed them with a grin. “Chinen, Yuya’s scarf is slipping from your neck and I can see your hickeys. Daiki, I want my money.”

Daiki threw something at him, and Chinen rolled his eyes as he adjusted his shawl and caught my eyes, grinning. 

“It’s too chaotic today” Keito complained to me under his breath, and I did feel a little sorry for leaving him alone to deal with BEST and their teasing.

“There is worse trouble, though” I mused, entwining our fingers for a moment and marveling in the smile I got in return, ignoring the cat calls from Hikaru and Inoo. 


End file.
